As Time Goes By
by LilManiac
Summary: This is set after This War Of Ours. A sweet little lovey dovey story about the joys of their love and their little ones! Hope you enjoy!
1. Welcome to the World

**Chapter 1  
**

 **-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-**

I awoke to the feel of small butterfly kisses on my exposed stomach, and soft but sweet mutterings.

I frowned, slightly annoyed at being woken up... again... when I was in such a deep sleep, but I knew... I couldn't be mad at him for long.

Donnie must have felt me moving, as he seemed to freeze in place, and I opened an eye to look at him. He smiled sheepishly.

"Again?" I croaked.

"Sorry... couldn't help it. I felt-"

"I know, but... I _was_ asleep"

"Well, little miss wasn't sleeping" Was his defense, and I sighed again.

Maybe I should back up a little.

My name is Jade Harper. I can now tell you my full name, because the Yeerks are now defeated, and there is now some sort of peace on earth. So, if you are the enemy... good luck trying to disturb it with all of us still here.

My husband is a turtle. Yes, you heard it... big, green shell backed hell raiser which I married some months before.

Okay, he's not that bad. He just seemed to enjoy getting on my nerves and waking me while I slept.

Oh, and here's a fun piece of info. I'm pregnant. All eight and a half months... and it was Donnie's.

Yes, you heard right. I got pregnant to a mutant ninja turtle. We can't explain it either.

We met when I was about sixteen, and he was about a year older. The circumstances in which we met were... well, lets just say... not pleasant.

But... somehow, through everything... our love blossomed, and soon we created something that was going to pop out of me in the next couple of weeks.

Through Rtaia's magic in healing and basically being my doctor, we'd discovered... well, as far as she could tell... that we were having a girl. A girl that... from the scans, looked like she would be like her father. She had a little tiny shell...

The rest wasn't so clear. She was too curled up to see how many fingers she would have, or if she would have a tuft of hair on her head, like her cousins now had.

Serah and Rachel both had little boys, and Kristiana had a little girl. All had cute little shells, with human features and a little tuft of hair. Their skin ranged from the same green their fathers had to a light creamy skin of ours. And they were all cute.

Now... I was the last.

Amanda just had a cute little Chanaiben boy, that looked just like a miniature Ithiell. He didn't have his wings yet, but he had the big eyes and made cute little squeaks when he was being held by his parents. When Ithiell held him, he made a clicking sound that seemed to soothe the little bub and put him to sleep. It was so cute, and so sweet...

Donnie's warm hands on my swollen belly brought me back to the present, and I looked down at him again.

"Donnie?"

"What?"

"She aint gonna cook any faster"

"I know... but..."

At that moment we both felt her starting to wiggle around, kicking my ribs while she did.

"I'm cooking a mini ninja" I muttered, reaching for Donnie, who understood and took my hands to help me up.

"You owe me breakfast" I told him as he helped me up into a standing position.

"Anything for my beautiful wife" He said sweetly, making me half glare at him. Then... my whole mood changed...

Donnie's face dropped as tears streaked down my face, pulling me into an awkward hug as I sobbed.

"I'm a whale!" I cried into his chest.

"You are not" Donnie protested, although gently, slowly moving me out of our bedroom and into the main room, where the sun was just starting to shine into.

"I am... and... and... she keeps kicking me" I blubbered like a baby. Some logical part of my mind was telling me I was just being a big sook, but I really couldn't stop myself.

"It'll be over soon" He assured me, and I blubbered some more before he got me sat at the kitchen counter, still in my nightie. I looked out at the rising sun, relaxing a little.

We had all decided to go and find our own places after the war, as we'd need some space for our children to move and grow. And... although the base would always be our home, our 'go to' place, we'd all found some safe and secluded places not far from one another. Donnie and I had found a big beautiful house on a secluded beach, making it kind of our own private beach. And... with Donnie and Ithiell's tech guarding it, we wouldn't be disturbed without at least some warning. Also... possibly someone getting a good zapping...

We still had our regular catch ups every few days with all the others, but for the nights and mornings... it was just the two of us. Well... two and a half.

"If she comes out doing back flips I'm blaming you" I told him as he shuffled around our kitchen, making his coffee and my tea. He chuckled.

"Hey, you're a ninja as well... well, sort of"

"I haven't trained with Splinter in a while...and... I... can't... move" I felt like crying again, being distracted as Donnie handed me my tea, which I gratefully took, thanking him and taking a big gulp to stop the annoying blubbering.

Rtaia and Splinter had decided to stay at the base, along with Amanda and Ithiell. So... the four... five... of them, pretty much had the run of the base now. I wondered how the little guy was going...

"Jade?"

"Hmm?"

I looked over at Donnie, shaking my head as he smiled sweetly at me. He moved from the stove, then over to me, kissing my forehead.

Before he could move away, I grabbed his face in my hands.

"Not so fast my love" I kissed him as hard as I could, hearing him make a funny sound in the back of his throat.

I only pulled back after there was another swift kick to my rips, making me pull back in pain.

"Ninja" I told Donnie as he looked at me strangely, and he nodded, smiling at me a little as he moved away to start our breakfast.

As horrible and awkward as pregnancy had been so far, I was actually the happiest I'd ever been.

I had my ninja nerd, and I felt safe here. No wars... no Yeerks... no Terinans...

Just... peace.

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The first thing I felt was a hand gently stroking the top of my hair, and a kiss on my forehead as I struggled to open my eyes.

Whatever Rtaia had given me had made me kinda groggy...

"Jade?" Came that wonderful voice above me as I was finally able to open my eyes, looking up to see Donnie's worried face staring down at me.

"Donnie... is she... okay?" I managed to get out, feeling something being stuck in my arm. I managed to look to see Rtaia there, pulling the needle out and then moving way. She hadn't even looked at me...

"She's..."

I looked back up to Donnie, who was now looking away. Had something happened to our daughter?

When my water broke, we'd had some trouble, and then Rtaia had to put me under to get her out... because a human body was not meant to give birth to a strange little shell backed mutant baby...

Donnie moved away, and I was able to shift myself up into a sitting position as I felt the groggy feeling start to slip away.

"Donnie? Is..." I watched as he bent over something, picking it up and turning to me.

Relief flooded through me as he brought me a slightly squirming bundle wrapped in a blanket, hearing a small cry which died off as Donnie bounced it a little.

He sat beside me, and I managed to move enough to finally see our daughter for the first time.

She had alot of Donnie in her, but she had a tiny tuft of brown hair on the top of her forehead. Her skin was like mine, but the colour was a light green like Donnie, and her lips and nose were most definitely his. She had a shell, and from what I could see she had managed to wriggle one of her little hands free of the blanket. She had five little tiny fingers, which were curled up and against her cute little face.

"She's... shes beautiful" I felt tears spring to my eyes, my heart feeling like it could fly. I had a daughter... I had brought this tiny little bundle of joy into the world... cooked her for almost nine months...

"She is the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen... well, besides you" Donnie kissed my forehead again, before handing me the little bundle. I looked down at her little face as he put an arm around me, pulling me close to him.

"You're just saying that so you wont get in trouble" I managed to get out, elbowing his side a little. He snorted, and again our attention was now back on this little miracle.

"I... I can't believe she's ours" I finally admitted, watching as she squirmed a little, her eyes still closed, before settling again.

"She really is just... so perfect" He sighed, and I hummed in agreement.

"What are we gonna call her?"

Donnie made a strange sound, and I looked up at him as he shifted his glasses, shrugging at me a little.

"I honestly wasn't thinking about that. I was... well..." He trailed off, looking away. I heard him sigh, managing to move our little girl to hold in one arm, using the other to reach up and move his head back to look at me. He looked... well, upset to say the least.

"Dear husband?"

"Yes wife?"

"What's wrong? What aren't you saying?"

"I was worried that she wasn't... I mean, that..."

"Donnie?"

He sighed, closing his eyes and finally managing to put a sentence together.

"I was worried that something might happen to you or her, so I wasn't really thinking of names or anything"

I felt tears in my eyes again, using my free arm to pull him down for a short kiss.

"You are the best husband a girl could ever ask for"

"And you're the best wife a mutant turtle could ever need"

I stuck my tongue out at him "Flatterer"

He snorted a little, shaking his head as we both turned back to the little bundle. Donnie managed to put his other arm under both mine as well as our little miracle, so we were now both holding her.

"So... what do we name her?" I asked again, and we fell into silence. At that moment I realised that Rtaia had left the room, and I could see the door was ajar a little. I couldn't see them, but I knew the others were out there somewhere...

"Miah?" Donnie suggested, and I turned my attention back up to him.

"That's pretty... where'd you get that?"

He shrugged a little "Kind of just made it up?"

I snorted a little "Still sounds pretty, made up or not"

"So.. Miah?"

"How about... Miah Rose"

"Rose?"

"Well... after my grandmother on my mums side... would mean alot to my mum to have something of her in there. As a middle name, you know?"

He nodded "Well... Miah Rose then?"

I smiled up at him, moving up to kiss him again, before once again looking back down at our little sleeping beauty.

"Well, it's decided then. Welcome to the family Miah Rose"

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**

 **Constructive Criticism appreciated!  
**


	2. Baby Proofing!

**Chapter 2  
**

 **These chapters I'll be going from one girl to the other, just so you all know! Don't worry, I'll make sure you know who's talking too :)**

 **-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-**

 **Amanda**

I shook the bottle as hard as I could, knowing Eoran would be awake soon. I had to make sure this bottle was ready for when he woke up... otherwise he'd be a very cranky baby. Unfortunately I couldn't feed him with normal milk or even formula, so Rtaia had helped me make something especially for him to have.

He wasn't really that bad... he was a sweet little boy.. I just knew when he got hungry he became a bit of a terror. He was four months old and growing faster than I liked to admit.

It was strange... but then again not unheard of... that I had given birth to a Chanaiben baby. I mean, he had no human characteristics at all, he just came out looking like a miniature Ithiell.

Then again, apparently Serah had come out human, and her mum gave birth to her as a Chanaiben. So... I guess it was in a way understandable.

I heard a familiar little squeak, yelling out "Mummy's comin Eoran! Just warming it up"

I put the bottle in the microwave, hearing more little squeaks, smiling at how cute my little boy was, deciding to call out to Ithiell.

"Babe, can you get him! I'm just warming the bottle up"

"Sure thing!" Came his response, then "Uh oh"

"Uh oh?" I grabbed the bottle out, wrapping it in a bib and moving to go into the main room. I saw Eorans crib, and Ithiell standing over it, looking down.

"What's uh oh?" I asked again, seeing him now looking up at me.

"He uh... he got out"

"He what?!" I ran over, looking down into the crib and finding it empty.

"What the hell Ithiell!" I slapped his arm with my free hand, making him yelp.

"What?"

"You let our son get out! Where is he?" I looked around, hoping Chanaiben babies couldn't get far...

"I uh.. I really don't know"

"You were meant to be watching him!"

"I was! Well... kind of" He scratched the back of his head, and I hit him again.

"You were playing on your computers!"

"I was keeping-"

A squeak, and we both turned to the sound, seeing nothing.

"I heard him"

"Yeah... but I don't see him"

"So help me Ithiell, if he gets hurt..."

"He won't. He's probably just decided to... climb..."

We both looked at each other then, fear going through me thinking that my son was going to fall and hurt himself.

"Eoran!" We both started calling out, hearing squeaks and not being able to pinpoint it.

"Bubba... come on, mummas got a yummy bottle for you"

Another squeak, and I spun on my heel, looking up...

"Uh, Ithiell?"

"Yea-ohcrap"

"How... did he get up there?!"

"He must have just climbed" Was Ithiell's response as Eoran slipped a little on the highest monitor, squeaking again and looking down at us.

"Bubba, stay there... Ithiell!"

"I got him" Ithiell opened his wings, flapping up and grabbing our son off the top of the monitors, hearing him squeak in protest before holding tight to his father.

As soon as they were down I grabbed Eoran out of Ithiell's arms, feeling him grasp onto me and kissing the top of his head.

"Oh bubba, don't ever do that again! You scared mumma half to death!"

Another squeak, and I felt tears come to my eyes as Ithiell put his arms around me, pulling both of us close.

"He's okay Mand... he just..."

"I can't... no, he can't do that again. That scared the crap out of me..."

"It's okay. We'll work out a way... maybe make his crib higher or something..."

"He's gonna get worse, isn't he?"

Ithiell pulled away, looking down at me.

"Well... yes. Both boys and girls learn to climb about this age, and... well, they get more adventurous as they grow"

I sighed, moving over to the couch and moving Eoran so he was on his back, using one arm to hold him and the other to wrap the bib around his neck. He made little excited sounds as I brought the specially made bottle down, and he latched onto it eagerly, beginning to drink.

"I'm scared Ithiell" I finally admitted, hearing more than seeing him sit beside me, looking at our son.

"It's normal Amanda, he'll-"

"Ithiell... I'm scared he'll hurt himself, like... we'll look away and hell fall off like a bookshelf and be crushed, or... he'll find a way to get out of the base..."

"He won't, don't worry. I'll make sure of that. We'll baby proof this whole place, all right?"

I just raised an eyebrow. He sighed, moving to get up and walk around the room.

I looked back down at Eoran, seeing his eyes slowly closing again. I felt his little tail slip, hanging down from my knee as his little hands slowly slid down the bottle. Soon, his little mouth stopped moving, and the liquid in the bottle shook a little, before I realised he wasn't drinking any more.

At least that remained the same. He would get to a point where he was full, and would fall back to sleep fairly quickly. I was just glad he slept more or less through the night now.

"Babe? He's out"

"All right, I'll take the crib back into our room"

"Yeah, good idea. I'm tired"

I picked Eoran up, holding his little body close to mine and seeing him try and grasp my necklace in his sleep, unable to stop a small smile form my face. He was nothing like me, but...

I loved him more than anything in the world. Maybe even more than I loved Ithiell.

So... you can tell, that was a lot of love.

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Once again Ithiell was at the computers, and I was sitting on the lounge watching some kind of daytime tv show, feeling a little bored. Eoran was asleep again, and his crib was right next to me, as I was afraid that if I let him out of my sight he would wake up and escape his crib again.

Splinter soon came to sit beside me, and Rtaia moved around and into her medical bay.

"I do not believe Heath is ready to be a father" Splinter commented, and I couldn't help but giggle a little. I was amazed at how into some of these shows he got, but I guess he needed something to do besides wonder how his sons were all the time.

They still came to train with him, but now we weren't all living together, I guessed he missed their companionship. But... he had me and Ithiell at least. And Rtaia sometimes too.

"I don't think he is Marie's baby daddy" I responded, twirling a stray piece of hair in my fingers, tempted to try and eat it.

"We shall see" He responded, hands on his lap. I smiled a little, taking the time to look over at Eoran. He was still out, thankfully.

"I got it!" Ithiell suddenly jumped up, knocking it over with a loud clang as he sped into Donnie's old lab (which he was now using for his own) and disappearing through the doors.

Unfortunately the loud noise woke up our son, and he started to squirm, making small cries.

"Come here bubba" I moved to pick him up, cuddling and rocking him a little as he sulked.

"Is something the matter?" Rtaia asked, coming out of the medical bay as I heard a small crash and things being thrown around in the darkened room.

"I don't know" I admitted, bouncing Eoran around until he settled back into sleep "But _some_ one decided to make a _ruckus_ while his _son_ was _sleeping_!"

"Wasn't my intention, I assure you!" Was his response as I bounced Eoran a little more, making sure he was sleeping deeply enough for me to put him back into his cot.

"Doesn't excuse it! You're up with him tonight Ithiell!"

"I do believe that won't be an issue" He came out, holding some small little device, grinning from ear hole to ear hole.

"Whaaat have you found?" I pulled Eoran a little more closely to me, watching as Ithiell moved to his crib, finding a strange tool was now in his hands, as well as the little device.

"Something I designed with Donnie a while back while we were still playing around with equipment" He moved to place the device against one of the wood pillars of the cot, using his tool to connect them together.

"This better not be something that can hurt our son" I warned, half glaring at him as he worked away.

"Not at all!" He now looked up at me "Do you really think I'd put our little boy in that kind of danger?"

"Unintentionally, yes"

Ithiell shot me an annoyed look, before turning back to what he was doing, finally fixing the device to Eorans cot.

"It's a force field generator. It will only go over the top of his crib, and will stop him from climbing out and getting away from us"

"But... could it suffocate him?" I asked, and he got up, shaking his head at me.

"Not at all. All it's going to do is stop him from running amok"

"What about when he is old enough to sleep out of the cot?" Rtaia asked, moving to look at the device.

"He should be at an age where we can... okay, well maybe not" Ithiell seemed to reconsider his sentence halfway through, scratching his head a little.

"There has to be some way we can make sure this place is safe for him" Splinter spoke up, holding out his arms to take Eoran. I let him, knowing this was another thing that made him happy. He loved Eoran, probably because it reminded him of when the turtles were little...

"Well... how about we go and work out what the possible hazards are around this place, and go from there" I got up, sharing a look with Ithiell, then with Rtaia.

"This seems like a a good plan"

I went over to the big bookshelf in one corner of the room, pointing to it as I turned back to the three.

"Could fall down on him"

Ithiell put a finger to his chin, looking it up and down "I could find some way to suspend it, and make it some sort of slippery surface so he can't climb it"

"All right" I moved over to the more obvious obstacle, the computer with the monitors stacked on top of one another.

"That one is a bit harder... could make some sort of force field barrier to go around the entire table, so he can't get to it at all"

"Hmm, all right" We continued to move through the base, knocking out some of the easier ones like the hanger bay and Donnie's former lab, but there were alot of dangers around the base that none of us really ever thought about. Splinter followed us and pointed out a few as well. We would have to make sure all the doors had locks on them from now on, even the bathroom door.

We all converged back in the main room, all of us looking from Ithiell to Eoran. Ithiell looked a little worried.

"Gee, I didn't realise there were so many things he could get to. Gosh, and at his age..." He scratched the back of his head, looking at the still sleeping baby.

"Well, _hun_ " I moved over, putting my hands on his chest and giving him a quick peck on the cheek "Better get working on all of those issues then, _before_ he starts to become a _real_ handful"

With that, I moved away, hearing him sigh, then "Sure thing dear"

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**

 **Constructive Criticism appreciated!  
**


	3. First Words

**Chapter 3  
**

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 **Rachel  
**

My name is Rachel Berenson.

Around two years ago our war ended. But not without casualties to our team.

Ax... my best friend Cassie...

And my cousin, Jake.

I don't think we'll ever know what drove him over the edge... maybe the war messed with his head, or maybe it was something else.

All I know is... I'm both glad hes gone as well as... I guess you could say lost.

I miss him. I miss the Jake before all this.

He loved basketball, hanging out with his best friend Marco... just pretty much being a kid.

When we found out about the Yeerks, and were given the power to morph, I think we all changed. Both for better and worse.

Jake... well, I know none of us were the same after that night. But Jake... he shouldered the responsibility and became a leader at such a young age...

Things got more complicated when we met Jade and her team, and they joined our fight. I mean, it was great to have some powerful allies, and an actual fighter we could use without the Yeerks tracking it, but...

Well, maybe it was then. I'm not sure.

It could also have been when we found out about four giant turtles who were named after renaissance painters, as well as the giant rat that raised them.

All I know is that day I met my match, my equal...

The love of my life, to be exact. Raphael.

I don't know what it was, but we connected as soon as we met. I didn't care that he was a big green turtle... all I knew is that he challenged me in ways I never knew I could be challenged. And calmed the anger when it burned out of control. I don't know how. but... I think that's when I started to fall for him. He made me happy when I felt sad or angry. And.. I think I did the same for him. He was always such a hot head...

Now, years later, the two of us had somehow created the little boy that was sitting in the high chair in front of me, swinging his legs as I tried to feed him. Tried... because every time Raph hit his punching bag, his little head would turn to look.

Okay, he wasn't exactly a little boy. He was half human, half turtle. His face was human, and he had a little tuft of hair that looked like mine, which was slowly starting to grow out. His skin was creamy, but it had the same texture of Raphs. The rest of him... well, it was like his father.

He had a little shell, three fingers and three toes, and a hell of an attitude for a nine month old.

Then again, he may have gotten that last part from both of us.

"Raph, can you _stop_ for five seconds? I'm trying to feed Jake" I asked him as he smacked the bag again, and our sons head moved to look at him, trying to almost get out of the specially made high chair.

Yes you heard right. Jake was his nickname I used. Raph didn't always like it, but he knew it helped me.

Our sons full name was Jacob Luke Berenson. Raph usually just liked to call him Jacob, but me...

"I'm a little restless, sorry" Was his response, and I rolled my eyes.

"Well so am I, but I'm trying to feed our son and you keep distracting him"

"Fine" He grumbled, moving from the punching bag and instead just pacing around the main room of our house. Still didn't help Jacobs attention span, but at least the noise wasn't making me miss his mouth every time I put the spoon near it.

We'd moved to a place deep in the forest, away from prying eyes and idiots with cameras. Donnie and Ithiell had both helped set up a security system that we could both easily use, and made sure if we ever got stuck that they could help out from where they were. Just in case someone decided to try and hunt us out.

I'm sure if they got too close either Raph or I would... make sure they didn't come back snooping. Raph was a big turtle, and just his size intimidated most people that saw him, even after all that had happened.

I groaned when Raph started to pace behind the high chair, watching as Jacobs head tilted upwards, trying to see his dad and making cute little noises as well as doing his baby talk. I saw Raph smile, stopping and looking down at his... well, our... creation.

"Dear husband?" My voice was tight as I bit back the frustration, watching as he looked up at me.

Yes, I married him. So sue me. Better than marrying some drunk idiot who hits his family. Raph was nothing like that, and he'd been raised right. Still...

"Yes dear wife?"

"Can... you not?" I let out the words slowly, hoping the anger would die away soon.

It didn't. I'd barely been able to feed Jacob, and his face was now a mess due to every time he turned.

"Well, I-"

"Would _you_ like to try and feed him then?" I growled, watching as Jake now turned back to me, his eyes now as big as dinner plates. He knew something was up...

" _Fine_ , at least it'll give me _something_ to do"

I put the bowl on the edge of the high chair, moving to get up-

"BAH!" Jacob cried, slamming his hands on the edge of the bowl and sending the mush flying at me. It hit my face, my arms and shoulders...

"Oh great!" I tried to wipe the mess away from my eyes, hearing Raph roar to life, laughing loudly.

"Oh that is _it_!" I was furious, moving to grab Raph, but he dodged my grasp, taking off and running around the room almost lazily it seemed, with me after him.

What he forgot was that I trained with him and Splinter for a short time, so I knew some tricks of my own.

I went to chase left, instead dodging right and cutting him off, body slamming him with all the force I had. He cried out as I hit his side, knocking him over and landing on top of him.

I looked down at him as he smiled up at me, hearing Jacob squealing with delight. Of course he'd enjoy this...

I grabbed a glob of food from my shoulder, watching as Raph's face turned from happy to shocked as I slapped it on him, smothering it all over his face and neck, watching as he squirmed a little.

"Rachel!" He snapped, and I couldn't help but let out my own laugh, my anger towards him now gone. It was so hard to stay mad at Raph for long...

"Payback!" I laughed, managing to sit myself up on him, straddling his waist as he fought to get the goo off him.

I grabbed another glob that had landed on my neck, wiping it all down his chest, hearing him grumble.

"You wanted something to do" I couldn't help but giggle "Well, there you go!"

"Oh you little-"

I yelped a little as he threw me off him, and in seconds he was above me, pinning me down. He smiled down at me, and I couldn't help but grin at him, my rough and tumble ninja had gotten me again...

"Daadadadadadadada!" Came the squeal, and we both turned to look at Jacob, who was pointing at Raph.

"Babe.."

"Yeah, I heard him..." Raph helped me up, and we both went over to Jacob, who was still pointing at Raph.

Pride filled my chest, and I slapped Raph's shoulder, making him grunt and look at me.

"Dadada!" Jacob squealed again, then clapped his hands happily.

"He just said his first word! And it was you, you lucky-"

"Doesn't count" He muttered "Not actually-"

"Raphael!"

"Dadada!" Jacob continued to squeal.

"Yes it does! He called you dad!"

I had a feeling we'd be arguing about this one for a while.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

I woke up slowly, my ears picking up sounds that my brain wasn't quite registering just yet... Raphael had really wiped me out earlier...

Soon, things came into focus, and I groaned a little.

"He's awake again" Raph muttered from behind me, and I mumbled in response, starting to sit up and looking around for my clothes, hearing Jacob crying from the next room...

"Where'd you-"

"Don't worry, I'll get him" Felt Raph move, kissing the back of my neck and sending shivers up it, before I felt the bed moving. I watched, smiling as his shadow walked slowly out of the room, rubbing his face a little.

"Thanks babe" I called after him, deciding to turn the light on to find my PJ's... Raph didn't mess around when he was restless.. I was honestly surprised the noise we were making hadn't woken our son up. But then again, he did sleep pretty well most nights. It was just every now and then...

I heard Jake's cries subside and Raph talking to him, hearing the floor creak as he moved from the bedroom into the main room, towards the kitchen. I found my underwear and my pants, slipping them on and brushing my hair back, wondering where he'd tossed my shirt.

I finally gave up and just went to my set of drawers, grabbing one and slipping it on. Shuddering a little from the cold, I moved to get back under the covers, knowing I would probably have to do some cleaning tomorrow after we got home.

With the light now back off, I curled up under the covers, feeling myself warm up a little. With Raph in the bed beside me, usually it was nice and toasty, but without him... I had to curl up to get to a comfortable temperature.

Slowly, I started to drift again...

"RACHEL!" Raphs voice boomed through the house, jolting me back awake and making me panic a little.

"RACHEL!" He called again almost straight away, and I bolted out of the bed, fear going through me and wondering if something had happened to our little Jake. I knew Raph would never hurt him.. at least-

I half skidded into the kitchen, relaxing about a hair when I saw everything seemed fine. Raph had Jake on his hip, his other hand holding a bottle. Jacob himself seemed like he was more interested in trying to suck his thumb, looking at me with those big blue eyes of his.

"What the hell is wrong? He looks fine" I moved over, looking our son up and down for any injuries, surprised when Raph now smiled at me.

"He's fine, but... " He bounced Jacob, making him look a his father "Say it again little guy"

He looked confused for a moment, before excitedly pointing at me and swinging his legs a little.

"Mamaa!"

My jaw dropped a little.

"Mama!" He said again, giggling a little when Raph tickled his side.

"His first words Rach"

"He said his first words yesterday" I countered, and he shook his head a little.

"That was just... noise"

"No, he pointed to you and said Dada"

"Dada!" Jake pointed at Raph, almost shoving a finger up his nose and making Raph have to lean back a little.

"But..."

"Mama" Now he was pointing at me again.

"Well... at least he knows who's who" I smiled at him, grabbing his hand which was pointing at me and kissing the palm. Little Jake giggled, kicking his legs again happily.

"First words... both mama and dada" Raph mumbled, bouncing our son again, and I couldn't help but smile.

Our little boy was growing up so quickly!

 **-x-x-x-xx-x-xx-x-x-x-  
**

 **Constructive Criticism appreciated!  
**


	4. First Steps

**Chapter 4  
**

 **-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-**

 **Kristiana  
**

"Whatcha doin baby guuuurl" Mikey cooed from the next room as I chopped up some vegetables in the kitchen. I knew he was talking to our little girl, and I couldn't help but smile. Mikey had started out a little lopsided when she was born, but now...

He was an amazing father. He watched her like a hawk, and made sure nothing hurt her.

He had matured so much from when I first met him, although he kept his sweet playful side that I fell in love with in the first place.

When I met him, well... it wasn't under the best circumstance, but he was so sweet, so gentle...and he took such good care of me...

Who wouldn't fall for a wonderful guy like that?

Okay, he was a turtle, but still... probably better than any human boy I ever dated when I was younger. Like Matt... Matt was only interested in one thing, and when I didn't give it...

Well, anyway... long story short. I was now married to a ninja turtle called Michelangelo and we had a little girl.

Don't ask me how it happened. I don't even know. I didn't even know we could... until Mikey wanted to try it one night, back when we were still in the middle of war...

I'm kinda weird in other ways too, but we won't go into that.

I heard Cassie squealing as Mikey did something with her, then a giggle coming from both of them.

"Don't get her too worked up" I called to him "I want to try and get her to nap before we go to the base"

We'd named out daughter after Cassie the Animorph. She and I had been close, and when I found out she hadn't made it out of that ship...

It was pretty hard news to deal with. She was always so sweet, and so caring.

Her full name was Cassandra Lily Cord, and although she had my last name, there were alot of traits she got from Mikey.

Like... she always seemed to be happy, even when she was overtired. She'd grizzle a little, but then giggle too.

She looked a bit more like Mikey than me. At almost one year old, her hair was starting to grow past her ears now, but her eyes were bright blue like Mikey's. She had a human nose and lips, as well as five fingers on each hand, but three toes on her little feet like Mikey. She also had her little shell, like the rest of her cousins did.

To me, she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

"Daaaa" Came the response and then "Owow! Not the nose!"

"Keep tellin ya not to do that" I couldn't help but giggle as I put the chopped up vegetables in the fridge, washing my hands off. At least now all we had to do was cook dinner if we came back early enough.

Mikey had insisted on staying in the city, now they thought of us as heroes. We'd managed to get a house on the outskirts though, and with the upgraded tech Ithiell and Donnie had provided, I knew we were safe from any idiots.

Plus... Mikey was protective of both of us now. Hence my 'matured' comment about him.

Although, I had my own powers, and I was pretty sure I could throw people further than he could.

But... that was a contest we probably wouldn't have any time soon.

"Mamamamamamamma!" I heard Cassie squeal in delight, and I soon found myself with a little turtle girl attached to my leg.

"Mikey, you let her go?" I asked as I picked her up, swinging her up onto my hip with ease as she latched onto my shirt.

"She hurt my face" Was his grumble, and I rolled my eyes, looking down at my sweet little girl.

"Mam" She put her head onto my shoulder, looking cutely up at me. Oh yes, she was alot like Mikey, playing little miss innocent...

"Well maybe you shouldn't put try and blow raspberries on her tummy" I told him as I walked into the living room, seeing him on the floor holding his nose.

"And now I have two children" I rolled my eyes, seeing him now look up at me.

"Ah come on babe, I'm not that bad" He replied sulkily, managing to get up onto his feet. I moved to stand in front of him, moving his hand from his nose and looking at it.

"She gave you a little scratch" I told him, touching it and seeing him flinch, then moving to look at Cassie. I took one of her hands gently, realising her nails were growing a little faster now.

"Oh, I thought she might need her nails clipped soon" He muttered,and I let go of her hand, looking back up at him and touching his face gently. Those big eyes of his just... made me melt...

"I love you" Was all I got out, knowing I couldn't be mad at him for long. I felt so strongly for this silly ninja of mine...

"I love you too babe" He kissed me gently, then moved to take Cassie from my arms, kissing her on the forehead before holding her securely to his side.

Cassie giggled a little at the kiss, shoving her face a little into his shoulder and muttering "Daa"

"You should go get ready" He told me softly "It's almost time to leave"

"All right" I finally caved, giving him another gentle kiss before heading towards our bedroom. Before I went in, I heard Cassie giggle, then Mikey's soft voice,

"You know I love you too hey little one? My love isn't all for mama bear"

"Dadadada" Was Cassie's response.

I think I got the sweetest turtle of them all.

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"Ergh, she puked again" I heard Mikey mutter as I unlocked our front door, moving to the security pad and quickly typing in the code.

"Can't you deal with it? I'm kind of trying to-"

"Oh maaan!" I heard Mikey half run past me, towards the bathroom as he held our poor sick girl in front of him. Probably to jump in the shower to get them both cleaned up.

"Babe, take your gear off first!" I tried to remind him, but knowing it was useless. He probably just wanted to get clean.

We'd just gone for our catch up with the others, then had dinner out on the way back. Unfortunately, whatever they'd put in my daughters food had upset her stomach, and she started being horribly sick halfway home. I would have to call the restaurant and complain...

My first call though would be to Rtaia, knowing she could probably help us out or give us an idea on how to ease her poor little tummy. My heart ached knowing our poor little girl was in pain.

I heard the shower go on, going in to make sure Mikey did what I asked as well as bring in towels and what not for when they got out. Instead...

"Mikey" I scolded, seeing he was still fully clothed as he stood in the shower, bouncing Cassie a little.

"One, that's not going to help her, and two... what did I say to do"

"Uh... I... don't remember" He admitted, moving Cassie as her stomach revolted again, glad they were in the shower this time. Our car though would need to be cleaned...

"You have the worst memory" I grumbled, stripping my own clothes off as I set the two towels aside, jumping in the shower and both undressing our girl as well as removing Mikey's gear.

I managed to wash a few stains out as we stood there, squeezing as much water as I could out of the garments and throwing them in a pile just outside the shower.

As I went to step out, a hand encircled my wrist. I looked back to find Mikey staring me up and down.

"Where you goin gorgeous? Why don't you have a nice shower with us"

I faltered, almost giving in to him, but Cassie coughing a little brought me back to the present.

"You know I'd love to, but I need to call Rtaia and get her down here. We can't have our baby girl like this all night" I moved to kiss his cheek, then check her temperature before I got out and got things cleaned up, throwing on some around the house clothes as I made the call.

When I went back to the bathroom I noticed he'd gotten her out and was slowly drying her off. She looked terrible, her head resting at the nape of his neck, her eyes closed.

"Here, I'll get her dried off, you just get yourself sorted" I told him, taking her from his arms and hearing her whimper a little. I would most definitely be having words with that restaurant... my poor baby girl was miserable!

Thankfully Rtaia arrived as I was finishing drying her off, and we laid her on the couch as Rtaia set to work. Thankfully, for the moment, it seemed like she was asleep.

"It is possible, due to her unique structure, that certain chemicals in foods may upset her stomach" She said as we sat on either arm of the couch, Mikey looking almost like he wanted to cry. He loved his little girl so much, and to see her like this...

Well, it was breaking both our hearts.

"Babe, she'll be all right" I tried to assure him, holding a hand out towards him over the back of the couch. He took my hand loosely, and we watch as Rtaia worked. She pulled out a small syringe, putting it gently into her arm and watching as she sulked a little.

"Oh my Cassie babe" Mikey muttered, and Rtaia looked up at him, then to me.

"This should settle her stomach, but I would like to take some of her blood to test, so we can determine the cause of her illness"

"Please, if you can" I moved from the end of the couch to sit on the floor beside her and stroke my daughters hair, knowing she would probably wake up soon. As careful and methodical as Rtaia was, I still knew that needles could hurt.

"Just help her, please" Mikey pleaded with Rtaia, and she nodded.

I had never seen my poor Mikey so upset, and I was caught between comforting our daughter and comforting him. He was distraught to say the least.

I guess it was why I married him... he was silly at times but so full of heart... it's what I loved most about him.

Gently, Rtaia placed another empty syringe against Cassie's arm, gently placing it into the vein and slowly drawing the blood out. She whimpered again, her eyes opening and looking at me, trying to move her arm back but Rtaia held it gently in place.

"It's okay bubba, you're okay" I tried to soothe her as much as possible, finding as soon as Rtaia moved back she was crawling into my arms on the floor, holding tight to me. I patted the back of her shell, kissing her hair a little and humming gently.

"I will stay until I am sure she is well" Rtaia said, moving to pack up her things.

"We'd appreciate that, thank you for coming so quickly Rtaia"

She smiled a little, nodding "It is my pleasure. I would not let any child in our family suffer for any longer than need be"

"Dudette, that is so sweet of you" Mikey wiped the tears from his eyes a little, looking from me to Cassie. He moved to sit on the floor at the opposite end of the couch, Rtaia moving to sit on the floor near us. She pulled out a small device, starting to tap away and humming quietly to herself, doing something with that and the vial of blood.

I could tell all Mikey wanted to do was hold Cassie, the look in his eyes as he looked from me to his baby girl almost broke my heart.

"Hey Cassie" I tried gently to move her so I could look at her, finally managing to pull her off me just a little to see her face. I gave her the best smile I could muster, seeing her look strangely back at me. Poor thing looked so confused...

"Where's daddy?"

She started to look around, pointing at Mikey when she spotted him and letting out a small smile. I saw him perk up a little, before I managed to stand her up, resting her wobbly form on the edge of the couch with only a little sulking.

"Go on, go to daddy" I told her, watching as she righted herself, calling out to Mikey as she wobbly made her way, with the help of the couch, towards Mikey. As soon as she got to him, he swept her up in his arms and held her close, happy when she let out a small giggle.

Soon, she was squirming out of his grasp, heading back to me using the couch. She thumped into my arms, giggling a little as she did. Then she was up again, me helping her lean on the couch as she went back to Mikey.

She made a game of it, starting to giggle alot more, going back and forth and happily flopping into mine or Mikey's arms, with us encouraging her as she did.

"Is this normal behavior for Cassandra?" Rtaia asked when Cassie was halfway between us on the couch, and we turned to her.

"She isn't walking yet, but we're trying to encourage her" I told her, hearing Cassie giggle again.

"She is a year old now, is she not?" Rtaia continued, tapping away on her device.

"Babe" Mikey hissed, hearing Cassie making strange sounds.

"Yeah she is, a year in three days" I responded, hearing Mikey hiss again.

"I know that Eoran has been trying to walk as well, and he is slightly younger than-"

"Babe!" Mikey hissed a little louder, and I turned to him, ready to bite his head off, when...

"Oh" I covered my mouth, amazed at what I saw.

Cassie was slowly heading towards Rtaia, who still hadn't looked up, the concentration on her face as she moved made me almost cry.

"Whoa!" She suddenly toppled, and I reached forward, barely grabbing her in time. She giggled as I did, looking up at me as I pulled her into my lap, patting my face with her little hands.

"She just took her first steps!" Mikey almost squealed, jumping up and surprising both of us by sweeping me and Cassie up in his arms, spinning us around excitedly.

"Ah! Mikey stop!" I pulled Cassie close, afraid she'd fly out of my arms or get sick again.

"Oh... oh sorry babe" He put us gently down, kneeling beside us on the floor. Cassie giggled again, squirming out of my grasp and heading straight for Mikey again.

"Intriguing... " Rtaia was now looking at us, and I looked at Mikey, who was now picking her up and lifting her into the air.

"She walks!" He giggled, and Cassie giggled back at him, looking happy again.

"I do not believe-" But Rtaia's warning came too late as Cassie once again... unleashed... on her father.

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**

 **Aaaand I'll leave it to your imagination to work out what... unleashed... meant lol**

 **Hope you guys are enjoying, please let me know if you are! :D**

 **Constructive Criticism appreciated!  
**


	5. Training Wheels?

**Chapter 5  
**

 **-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-**

 **Serah  
**

My name is Serah Mayer.

And this is my first time doing any of this so I just wanted to say hi. So... hi!

So anyway, a few years back I found out I was part alien and my mother was what they call a Chanaiben.

This I found out through one of my besties Jade, who has probably pretty much told you the whole story with that.

Up until then, I thought she was normal too. You know, chick that came from another country, a little lost, a little bit of a tomboy... awesome accent as well...

Anyway, I'm part alien. And at the same time I found that out, I also found out about the Yeerks. And a whoooole heap of other nasty creatures I won't go into right now. But pretty much... Yeerks invaded our planet, turned it into almost a wasteland as they tried to take it over... and myself and my friends stopped them.

The Animorphs, Jade's team, and...

"Oh, Leo!" I ran forward, grabbing Dean before he reached his father, almost getting both our heads sliced off.

"Wha-oh" He sheathed his katanas as I stood up, the squirming mass of turtle boy now in my hands.

"You gotta watch what you're doing!" I almost snapped at him as I put our son back down, watching as he waddled back off to what I hoped was his room. I had been keeping an eye on him, but... well, when you gotta go, you gotta go. And I thought my husband had heard me when I'd called out to him to watch him for like, thirty seconds.

Okay, I guess I should back up and tell you the short, short version. I came across Jade kissing what I now know as Donnie back in the day, thought he was a monster... fainted, thought I was mad. Until I caught them... kissing... again and they brought me down to the old lair to meet the rest of the turtles and Splinter... and I soon found out about everything else after that.

Then I got close to Leo... fell for him, and thought I had a silly crush. Soon found out he felt the same way and we... well enjoyed a certain activity together, which led to me somehow getting pregnant and married to this big, blue bandana wearing maniac with the katanas.

We now had a son. Dean Axel Mayer. Axel in kind of commemoration of Ax, who probably saved my butt more times than I could count. He died saving some of my friends in one of the last big battles we had. He stayed so they could escape...

"Sorry Ser, I didn't know he was out of our bedroom"

"Well I did call out"

He scratched the back of his head as I heard something thump in Deans room, then a giggle. I knew it was something I would probably have to clean up, but right now...

Leo was my target.

"I was kind of focused on the kata-"

"Well that's not good enough! You know hes fast! He's got too many of _your_ traits in him... a sneaky little ninja..." I folded my arms, listening out for any more crashing, hoping Dean hadn't made too big of a mess.

Dean was more turtle than human, although he did have my dark eyes, and a small tuft of hair, the one and a half year old had his fathers nose and mouth. He had the three fingers like Leo, and the same toes, with the same kind of texture and colour of skin that his father had.

I noticed in our catch ups, that Dean and Miah looked more like their fathers than anything, although Dean was the most... turtle-lish, to put plainly.

"Serah, I am so sorry, next time I'll remember to practice my kata outside" He took my hands in his, giving me an apologetic smile.

"Next time you will practice your kata miles away from here, understood? Go visit Raph, I'm sure you two can train together... he aint that far from here"

He looked at me strangely, and I indicated to Deans room where I noticed he'd gone quiet. Which worried me.

"Dean is fine, he-"

I growled a little, yanking my hands from his grasp and moving to go check on Dean. A quiet baby is a baby that's up to something...

I skidded to a stop at the doorway, seeing toys scattered all over the room, and...

"Oh no, Leo!"

In an instant he was by my side, looking at me quizzically, before turning to see his son.

I put a hand over my eyes, sighing as Leo let out a deep laugh beside me, patting my shoulder a little.

Dean had thrown out all the toys from one of his toy boxes, somehow managing to get the semi heavy box over on his head. His hands were on the edges, and he was talking in baby garble at who knows what, giggling a little.

"Oh Dean, you're slowly killing mommy, you know that?" I muttered, not sure whether to walk away and let Leo deal with it, or just start picking up the toys to put back in the box.

"At least he's inventive, I'll give him that" Leo chuckled, and I turned to look at him, finding he had his arms folded and a big grin across his face.

"Were _you_ like this when you were little?"

Leo chuckled again, using one arm to pull me in and close to him as I sighed.

"I don't think so, but you might have to ask Splinter"

I scoffed, finally giving into the affection as my arms slipped around him, leaning my head on his shoulder a little.

"Splinter couldn't say a bad word against his _favorite_ son I bet"

"Splinter loved all of us equally growing up. Yes, even Raph before you say anything" He squeezed my shoulder a little, watching as the box slipped from our sons head, and he giggled as he looked at us.

"He's so happy" I murmured, watching as he worked his way into a standing position, wobbling his way over to us.

"He's loved" Was Leo's response as he got close, and I scooped him up in my arms, surprised when he threw his arms around my neck and hugged me tightly.

He muttered some incoherent words, slobbering a little on my cheek with what I guessed was meant to be a kiss, swinging his legs happily.

"Thanks little man" I muttered, wiping my cheek with my other hand, looking up at Leo.

I don't know why, but the look on his face just made me smile, watching as he patted his sons shell a little.

"Nam" Dean mumbled, pointing to his mouth, and I couldn't help but laugh. As crazy as this kid was, I don't think I could have loved anyone more.

"All right, let's go little man" I shifted him onto my left side, feeling Leo put his arm around my right after I turned around, the three of us heading towards the kitchen.

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"You have nooo idea how good this is" I muttered as I leaned back in my chair, looking at the four other girls around me.

"I... think we do" Rachel winked at me, smiling.

"It's been months since we had a girls day out" Amanda added, leaning forward and taking a big gulp of her hot chocolate.

"Yeah, and those lucky boys get a weekly training catch up" Jade rolled her eyes, her hands on her own mug.

"Maybe we should start a business or something"

We all looked at Kristiana.

"What?"

"And what would we do in this business sweety?" I asked, leaning forward "Promote ourselves as the former saviors of earth"

Now it was my turn to be looked at.

"What?"

"That was possibly the _dumbest_ thing I've ever heard come from your mouth" Rachel muttered, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm serious but" Kristiana continued, ignoring me as I shot daggers at Rachel "We could do something with our lives, and as much as I enjoy having all this money and all this freedom... frankly, I'm bored as all blueberries"

"Me too" Amanda, raising her cup up to her face, but then stopping "I mean, don't get me wrong... I love Ithiell and Eoran is just the best thing I could have ever asked for, I just... I feel pretty useless other than being all... motherly and house wifey"

"Urgh, we're house wives" Jade thunked her head on the table "Last thing I wanted to be"

"Well, we could always buy a shop and sell cloth-"

"Oh _hell_ no" Jade's head shot up, moving her hands in front of her madly "I am not gonna be a part of selling clothes. You girls drive me mad just by going shopping with you"

Suddenly it hit me... and it was something I knew we could all do.

"Oh, what about like a cafe? Or even like a bar or something" I offered, looking at all the girls.

"Uuuuuh... whhyyyy?"

"Well think about it my gorgeous friends... Amanda has the talent to sing, Kristiana and I can cook or serve drinks, and-"

"And Jade and I take no crap... we could be the bouncers!" Rachel laughed a little.

"How about this" Jade leaned forward, and we all joined her.

"We throw ideas back and forth, until we come up with something... plausible... we can do with our adult lives"

"We could do a-"

"No TV shows" Jade half glared at Amanda, who pouted.

"Yeaah, I really don't want to do something like that" I leaned back, hands up in a defensive position "I mean, it was hard enough to get away from the lights and cameras back when we helped save the world. I don't want paparazzi on my door"

Kristiana snorted "You mean the door that barely anyone could get to if they tried? Babe, you live on a mountain top... well, almost"

"It's got a good view at least" I couldn't help but smile "Oh and then there's the scenery"

All the girls let out weird sounds, and I couldn't help but giggle a little.

"We don't want to know what you and Leo get up to... that's just..." Jade stopped, shuddering.

"Well I knew what you and Donnie used to get up to... all that yelling and moa-"

"Ser-ah!" Jade practically yelped, her face turning the perfect shade of pink.

"And now my day is complete" I grinned, watching her shoot daggers in my direction.

Soon, it was time to go, and the five of us split off in different directions, heading home to our husbands and children until the next day. I was kind of excited to be able to see my mom and brothers again, as they'd be joining us tomorrow at the base. Sam and Toby really did miss their nephew...

I went up the usual route home, parking my car in my usual spot and heading up the small slope to the house. I'd done this a billion times before, smiling and wondering what the two boys were now up to... I just hoped Dean had been good for Leo...

The first thing I heard when I opened the door was "All right, attack daddy!"

Dean giggled, then made some high pitched sounds as I heard something thump. Leo laughed a little, and immediately I wondered what they were up to.

Slowly and as quietly as possible, I shut the door behind me, using what I'd learnt to sneak towards the living room

I leaned myself against the wall, hearing Leo laughing and Dean giggling, the small thumps continuing and wondering what was happening.

"Okay, no more attacking daddy" Leo told him, but from the sounds of it he didn't listen...

That's my boy...

I took a chance to peek around the corner, surprised to see Leo on the floor, holding his hands up in a defensive position, watching as Dean whacked him mercilessly with-

"Wooden katanas?!" I almost snapped, both of them stopping what they were doing to look at me.

"Uh, hi honey" Leo tried to smile, scrambling up off the floor and picking Dean up as he did, trying to hide the tiny katanas behind his back, but it was too late.

"You gave our son _wooden katanas_?! What the hell are you trying to do Leo?!"

"Well, I was hoping to train-"

"Hes not even two! _Two_ Leo! He's too young to even think about any of that stuff!"

"Well, technically hes one and-"

"Doon't get smart with me" I almost ran up to him, pointing a finger right in his face and making him move back a little.

"Ser, it was just for him to play-"

"No, he doesn't need to know how to fight! Not at his age! He's too young!"

"Serah, calm down!" Leo's deep voice got my attention, opening my mouth to speak, but Dean beat me to it.

"No!" He hugged tightly to Leo, his little hand suddenly coming out and almost reaching for me.

Instinctively, I reached out for him, finding now in my arms, once again saying "No no"

I was honestly speechless as I held our son, his head now digging into my shoulder. Like... he knew...

"Our boy is smarter than we give him credit for I think" Leo's voice turned soft as he ruffled Deans hair, making him giggle. Loved his little giggle...

"Yeah, but... Leo, he's-"

"I know, but... these things aren't even wooden" Suddenly I was being whacked in the shoulder, barely feeling anything as I looked down at the two little swords.

"Foam?" I wondered, looking up at Leo as he nodded.

"I don't want to train him if he doesn't want to be trained, but... I just thought..."

"You want him to take after you" I couldn't help but smile, leaning up and kissing him "I get it"

"Well, I don't want Splinters teachings to end at me and my brothers" He confessed, looking back at Dean, who was now grasping for him.

I felt his weight leave me, Leo take him easily as he finally met my eyes again.

"Leo... I get it... I just.. don't want him to feel like he has to put himself in danger for others, if he-"

"I know. You just don't want him hurt, and neither do I" His free hand cupped my cheek, and I leaned into it, loving his strong but gentle touch.

"How about... we let him keep these, and if he wants to follow in your footsteps, then... we'll talk about it. When it happens, not now"

"Sounds fair" He nodded, smiling at me again. That smile...

I couldn't help but smile, knowing what we'd be doing after the little guy fell asleep.

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**

 **Hope you guys are enjoying, please let me know if you are! :D**

 **Constructive Criticism appreciated!  
**


	6. Daddys Girl

**Chapter 6  
**

 **-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-**

 **Jade  
**

I shifted the laptop a little, moving to stand as I saw my oldest friends face pop back up on screen.

"Sorry, just had to sort Eoran... man he's fast now"

"I know the feeling" I responded, looking over at where Miah was almost running towards Donnie's lab as he closed the door, half smacking it and falling backwards.

I bit my lip, waiting for the tantrum, instead I heard crazy giggles come from her, making me laugh a little.

"What was that?"

"She's just being a klutz like mummy" I told her, finally moving to start cleaning the room I was in.

"So... nothing new there" I heard her say as I started to pick up toys, putting them in the box in the corner. I heard Miah get herself up, starting to wander around the room like she did when I cleaned.

"So... did you see what Serah wants to start selling at the dojo?"

Amanda scoffed "Yes, but it's not gonna happen. I mean... who would read that book of smut about... well, what it's like with..."

"Yeah, I know... say no more"

The five of us had opened a kind of womens self defense academy, which also had a child minding center attached to it, so we could bring the kids with us if the guys were busy. It was growing slowly, and we had hired a couple of staff, but it was mostly the five of us. We were open four of the five days of the week, which now kept us all busy. Surprisingly, the guys came to help from time to time as well.

But for today, we were all home with our families. Donnie and I usually shared the house cleaning duties, as well as Miah minding. Today was my day to clean up, and he was going to work on some kind of contraption he had been talking about with Ithiell, who would be coming around later today to have a... well, a boys play date. Both of them were extremely excited about whatever it was.

"So.. what do we tell her?" Amanda asked, and I looked over to see she wasn't on screen again. I was about to reply when I heard the familiar beep come from the computer.

"Hang on, Kristina's finally decided to join us" I told her, moving to tap away on the screen, all the while keeping an eye on my curious daughter as she half ran past me, carrying one of her bigger teddy bears with her. Soon, the screen split, and Kristiana's face popped up beside Amanda.

"Hey there"

"Hey" Amanda and I both replied, feeling someone run into my leg and looking down at the familiar set of bright green eyes.

"Mum, teddy" She handed me her bear, then ran off giggling as I turned back to the girls.

"So who else is getting over the terrible twos?" She started, rolling her eyes as we heard Cassie scream in the background, Mikey probably telling her no to something.

"Yep"

"Uh huh" I said at the same time Amanda replied, watching as Miah plopped down on the floor next to one of her little wooden puzzle toys, going to play with that.

"Anyway... we need to... Mikey don't you give into her!" Kristiana leaned back, calling out to him, hearing a faint reply.

"Yeah, we who's running Monday and Tuesdays classes this week?" I asked, continuing to do my usual tidy of the room.

"I reckon-" Amanda was cut off as the wails on Kristiana's side got louder, and she rolled her eyes.

"Sorry, be back in a bit" She got up, storming off. We heard faint yelling between her and Mikey, and Cassie still screaming due to the fact she couldn't get what she wanted. Slowly, the screaming died down...

"Loooud" Miah muttered from the floor, her eyes still trained on her task. She loved puzzles, and was good at working things out, even at her age. She really was the cutest little thing...

"I know bub, you just keep doing what you're doing" I told her, picking up some little metal pieces that I thought was Donnie's from the table.

"Kay" She said, and Amanda made a funny sound.

"She's so cute"

"They all are" I responded, suddenly finding some other little metal bits and pieces right under the couch.

"Hey Miah, what do you say we have a toy box for daddy too? He keeps leaving his toys around" I told her, hearing Amanda giggle at it.

"Yeah, daddy box!" She responded excitedly, looking at me and clapping her hands a little.

"Well they are just big kids" Amanda added as Miah got up to head towards her toy box, probably to pull out everything I had just put away. Typical kid...

"Oh, Rachel's here"

"Can you get that?" I asked her, looking to find something to put all the small metal bits into, hoping he hadn't left something dangerous that Miah could find out here.

"Sure thing"

The screen split again, and then suddenly...

"What the hell is this?!" Rachel snapped, and I looked to see she was holding the draft of Serah's book. She'd given each of us a copy to look at, and from what I could tell.. none of us were impressed.

"A book of smut... and mind your language" Amanda told her "Kids are nearby"

"This is absolutely f...flipping disgusting!" Rachel saved herself, and I looked back at the screen just as Kristiana came back, looking annoyed to say the least.

"So... we should say no to the book then I take it?" Amanda asked.

"Definitely not!"

"Yeah... I wouldn't want to try selling it to a group of ladies learning to defend themselves" Kristiana agreed, rubbing her temple.

"I wonder if she's even told Leo about some of... the content"

"Probably not" Rachel shook her head, still looking steamed.

"She should really talk to Leo before she even thinks of getting this published" Kristiana scratched her head, looking a little embarrassed "She probably should have told Leo before showing us, really"

"Agreed" I added in.

There was a short silence, before any of us spoke up again.

"So... who's going to- Eoran!" Amanda took off, hearing a yelp from him, then crying.

"Not me"

"Not me"

"Not... oh da-ngit" Rachel huffed.

"Looks like you're it" I went back to the laptop, moving it and sitting on the lounge for a moment.

"What about Aman- oh never mind" She rolled her eyes, and I couldn't help but smile.

"MAAAAAAAAAAA" I heard, and suddenly Rachel was gone, shrieking. I saw a part of a little shell, unable to hold in laughter when I realised what had happened.

Little Jake had just crash tackled Rachel. Kid was absolutely fearless...

I heard Kristiana laughing as well, both of us starting to tear up at the hilarity of it all.

Something warm on my knee made me jump a little, looking down to see Miah had come up to me, smiling as she went to hand me something.

"Daddy box" She said as I took it. It was a part off one of her toys, which from what I could tell, she'd taken the part off and put something inside of it.

"What's-" I stopped when I pulled out a small contraption of Donnie's that I know I'd seen broken on the kitchen table earlier, he was muttering about fixing it later... but from what I could see, both pieces had been locked back into place perfectly.

I looked down at her sweetly smiling face, which reminded me so much of Donnie.

"You smart little ninja you" Was all I could get out, also wondering how she'd managed to get this without either of us noticing.

She was definitely going to be a smart kid.

-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Miah, time for your bath" I called out, starting to turn the taps of the bath on.

"Nooooo" Came the wail in response, and I sighed inwardly. Usually she would love a bath, but lately she had been... difficult, to say the least.

"Come on little miss... you know Mister Octo hates having to have a bath on his own" I moved to head out into the lounge room, seeing she'd run towards the lab door, thumping into it and starting to sulk.

"Daddy isn't going to save you... now come on, have your bath and then we can watch aaall your shows" I managed to sweep her up in my arms, but she fought me, kicking and punching me as hard as she could.

"Need some help babe?" I heard Donnie call from the other room, and I could tell he was half focused on whatever he was doing.

"I'll... let you kno-ow!" I had to give her a small smack on the side, which started the high pitched screaming I hated.

"Miah, you hurt mummy again you'll be going in the time out corner" I warned her.

"No baf" She protested, but her hands and feet stopped pummeling me at least.

"You gotta, you need a hair wash" I told her, watching as she pouted, starting to sulk as I moved over to the bathroom, opening the door.

"Maaaaa" She squirmed again, but I refused, knowing Phoebe used to get like this when she was little as well. So lucky with me I had experience with the tempter tantrums.

I shut the bathroom door, setting her down on the floor and turned to shut the taps off, checking the water temperature.

I heard a strange 'shloop' sound behind me, turning around and seeing...

"Oh no" I slapped my forehead, cursing Donnie for teaching her that trick a few days ago, seeing my daughter had sucked her whole body into her little shell.

"Miah"

I heard a mumble, and I moved to pick up her shell, half shaking her a little.

"Miah, come out bubba" I tried to coax her, but inside I was trying not to scream. This was getting ridiculous and I just wanted her to have a bath!

I really hoped the terrible twos would be over quickly... after all, the last two years had flown by...

"No!"

"Miah, last warning" My voice turned more authoritative, hating have to be the bad one, but she had to learn some way or another. And I wasn't going to risk dumping her in the water when she was tucked into her shell... I could very well drown her.

"Nuh uh" Was the response I got, and I sighed, feeling a lump in my throat. I was half stuck between screaming like a banshee and bursting into tears. Miah was an angel most times for me, but now...

Doing this part alone was just getting to me.

So... I made a decision.

I put my arm under her as best I could, sticking her against my left shoulder and moving towards Donnie's lab. I knocked on it, hearing him unlock and open the door, looking at me and then his face dropping as he saw what I was holding.

"What-"

"She won't listen to me... and she won't come out of her shell to have a bath, and I just..." I felt tears spring to my eyes as I walked in, putting her on a clean bench and turning to look up at him. He was frowning as he cupped my head in his hands.

"Whoa whoa, slow down Jade" I finally felt myself give in, seeing Donnie's face go blurry as he put his arms around me, pulling me close and giving me a hug.

"You... need to help me...cause... I don't know what to do any more" I told him honestly, pushing away from him and feeling frustration come back as I turned, moving to head towards the door.

"Hey Jade, wait-"

"I... I can't..." Was all I could get out as I walked out, a pain in my chest as I moved to sit myself on the couch. I put my head in my hands, suddenly feeling like a failure as a mother. I couldn't even get Miah to have a bath... how was I going to-

I heard Donnie talking, looking up and realising he was talking to Miah. I heard what I thought was a "No" in response.

If only he hadn't taught her that trick... although it made he squeal with laughter when she did it... and it surprised me too... I'd never seen him do it...

And now, she had taken after him and hid in her shell to get out of doing something so simple. How was I going to get her to go to school or do anything I asked if she could now do that?

"Miah" Donnie's authoritative voice shook me out of my thoughts, and I got up, moving quietly over to stand near the open door, just listening.

"Don't make me come in there and get you" He told her, then I heard her giggling a little.

"Come on Miah, you need to come out now" He said, and there was a short silence, before I heard "There you are, my little girl"

"Uh huh" Came her response, and I finally decided to chance peeking around the door.

Miah was sitting on the bench, her little legs dangling off the edge, and Donnie was sitting in front of her, his hands on either side of her, probably so she wouldn't fall. She was pouting up at him.

"Now that wasn't very nice what you did to your mum, was it?"

She shook her head, sticking her thumb in her mouth.

"You need to be a good girl and have a bath, for both of us, okay?"

She shook her head again, but I noticed she didn't start screaming at the word 'bath'.

Instantly his hands went up, tickling her sides and making her squeal with laughter. I noticed Donnie smiled at the reaction.

"From now on, every time you go into your shell I'll tickle you" He said, this time earning him a cute giggle from her.

"No daddy no tickel"

"Then no hiding unless mummy or daddy tell you" He moved forward, putting his nose against hers, and instantly her hands were grabbing his face, patting it a little.

"Kay daddy" She swung her legs a little, and he moved to kiss her forehead.

The sweet sight made me tear up a little, and I sniffled without meaning to, making them both look over at the doorway.

Donnie smiled a little at me, then turned back to Miah, moving to pick her up with ease.

"Now you have to say sorry to mummy, you made her cry"

"Donnie" Was all I could say as he came up to me, Miah almost throwing herself into my arms and half yelling "Sorry mama"

"It's okay baby" I got out, feeling Donnie kiss my forehead this time.

"Love mama" She almost strangled me, and I looked up at Donnie, mouthing a 'thank you'.

"Now, you little miss... are going to have a bath"

She made an upset sound, digging her head into my shoulder a little, but I knew she would.

"I have an idea"

I looked up at Donnie, who cupped my head in his hand, winking at me from behind those glasses.

"What do you have in mind"

"How about we all have a bath together"

"What... really?" I blinked, looking up at him "I don't know if we'll all fit. I mean, you and I barely fit, but-"

"Ya!" Miah threw her hands up, almost hitting me in the face, and I sighed, looking from her to Donnie.

"This is such a bad idea" I muttered, letting him take Miah from my arms, grabbing me with his free hand and pulling me along.

She was such a daddy's girl.

 **-x-x-x-xx-x-xx-x-x-x-  
**

 **Hope you guys are enjoying, please let me know if you are! :D**

 **Constructive Criticism appreciated!  
**


	7. Play Fighting!

**Chapter 7  
**

 **-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-**

 **Amanda  
**

"Oooh boy that was too good" I leaned back in my chair, looking around the table at everyone. I think most of them felt the same.

"Oooh cake bad" Jade muttered from my other side, almost falling off her chair but managing to stop herself.

"Oh no, cake is awesome!" Mikey almost cheered, throwing his hands up happily.

"Techinically" Donnie raised a finger, shifting his glasses up with the other hand "It's Miah's opinion of the cake that matters"

"Oooooh I think she loves it" Rachel laughed, pointing at the table with the kids. We all followed her gaze, giggles and laughter rising from all the adults.

Miah Rose had cake all over her face, and had grabbed a glob, now smushing it into Dean's face. To our surprise, Dean was giggling, soon grabbing some of his own cake and smushing it into Miah's face.

Soon all the kids were doing the same to one another, the adults unable to do anything but laugh.

It was Miah's third birthday, and we were all out in a large meadow, protected mostly by a large force field and cloak that Donnie and Ithiell had designed, just enjoying the quiet and each others company.

All of our families as well as the rest of the Animorphs were here, so there was a fairly large group of us.

"Kids just love to make a mess" Marco grinned madly, laughing again when he saw little Jake jump on Dean, putting cake all down his shell.

"Ah, just hose em off" Raph huffed, and I saw Serah glare at him.

"You could give them a damn cold doing that!"

"Ha! They're kids! They'll live"

"I don't want Cassie baby sick again" Mikey frowned a little, a look of worry on his face. He loved his little girl so much...

"Oh baby she'll be okay. You know she's like you" Kristiana leaned her head on his shoulder, watching as he started to relax, smiling as he put his arm around her waist.

" _Too_ much like you sometimes" I giggled, smiling at him to let him know I was joking. He returned it, and I turned to the kids, seeing Eoran was being half attacked with more cake by both Cassie and Miah. He was making a weird little sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a huffing sound as the girls surrounded him, hearing them laughing as well.

My little boy had come a long way since he was born. He was fast, but he always listened to me, and when he didn't listen to me... well, Ithiell would make sure he didn't step too far out of line. It seemed that flaring his wings at our son scared him more into submission than a good yelling.

Thankfully the terrible twos had passed quickly with him, and he was now more curious than anything. Always wanting to know what his dad was up to, or what I was up to, and surprisingly, was always willing to help me out, and help me keep things clean. Even wanting to help me cook dinner sometimes... he was so cute.

"I do believe it is time to put an end to the food fight" Splinter's soft but stern voice made us look over again, seeing Jake and Dean had started to have a serious rumble.

"We'll get them" Leo shared an almost amused look with Raph, who got up as well to pull the two apart.

Eventually we got them cleaned up enough without having to hose them down, putting them in another little force field area especially designed to let them run around and play. Ithiell and Donnie had made sure that this force field had a roof of sorts, so Eoran couldn't get out either. He didn't have his wings yet, but he could climb on almost anything now. And I was sure he'd be able to climb his way up the force field.

I found out through Rtaia that he would probably start to grow his wings in about five or six, and they would be fully formed by the time he reached puberty. And... as Rtaia said... then he would go through the normal stages of male puberty. Which... I wasn't sure if any of it was going to at like thirteen/fourteen or if he would start earlier than that. I half hoped he wouldn't...

I watched as Miah and Dean started kicking a ball around, smiling as they soon kicked it to Eoran, all three of them squealing madly and enjoying themselves. Cassie and Jake were now sitting on the ground, the two of them looking like they were having a serious conversation about fingers. It was adorable to see.

"They play well together" I sighed, looking at Jade, then over at Leo, who was smiling at his son.

"Well... mostly. Hey Leo... I think our boys take after us" Raph chuckled a little, nudging Leo.

"Just a little" Leo shook his head, smiling at his brother and nudging him back.

"Well I know who Miah takes after" Jade said, jabbing her thumb at Donnie, who grinned happily down at her.

"What? I can't help it if my daughter takes after me in... intellect..." Donnie now looked like he regretted saying it, all of us watching as Jade rose from her chair, making Donnie cry out as she knocked him down.

"Well Donnie, bet you're regretting that now" Ithiell laughed, folding his arms a little, and just looked at him, narrowing my eyes a little.

"We know who Eoran takes after... and it's not me"

Ithiell just smiled, and I gave in to the temptation to do the same thing to him as Jade had done to Donnie.

Ithiell yelped as I started to tickle him in his most sensitive spots, his hands trying to get me off him but I refused, being relentless in my attack.

Jade soon copied me, and we hard Donnie yelping "No, stop!" And Jade laughing evilly.

"Hey guys, guys" Raphs voice made us all look up, me yelping when Ithiell rolled us over, now finding he was straddling my waist, grinning down at me.

"What's up Raph?"

"Why don't we do a free for all sparring session? Like we used to"

"You including us in that or what?" Rachel said from somewhere, watching as Ithiell leaned down a little. I took the chance to grab his face in my hands, kissing him as hard as I dared and catching him off guard.

"Well... I just... I..."

"I think the five of you... sorry, six" Serah corrected, knowing Robert would want to join in "Need to let off some steam. It's been a while, so..."

"Yeah, I'm with her" Kristiana said, and Ithiell finally gave up, getting on his feet pulling me up with him, making me let go of his face. I turned to Kristiana, seeing her start to push Mikey over to Raph and Leo.

"They're right" I looked at Ithiell, who gave me a strange stare.

"About what?" He asked, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Jade pull Donnie up.

"You need to go spar"

Ithiell scoffed "I do not"

"Come on Ithiell" Leo encouraged, and I took the opportunity to stroke just under Ithiell's chin, seeing him shiver a little.

"Damn woman" He grunted, half glaring at me. I just smiled sweetly back at him.

"Oh you love me" I pushed him forward "Now go kick butt"

 _-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-_

"And of course they'd bring their weapons to a family event" Jade grumbled, shaking her head at Donnie, who only smiled sweetly back at her.

"I don't need no weapons" Ithiell grinned cheekily, winking at me as he held his claws up "I _am_ a weapon!"

"Ha ha, very funny" Came Leo's sarcastic response as he flicked his wrists, the katanas in his hands becoming a blur as he moved.

"Who else is betting that this won't end well for at least _one_ of them" Serah asked, shaking her head.

"Hmm... I think they'll _all_ get hurt" Kristiana nodded in agreement, watching as they all lined up to spar.

"Oh ye of little faith" Robert said, making us all raise our eyebrows at him.

"Oh, he'll be the first" Jade jabbed her thumb in his direction, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Who said I'd be unarmed" He half glared at her, reminding me of the old days, before he started to shift. To our surprise, he became Ithiell's double, smiling at the two of us when he was done.

"Is that permitted in a free for all?" Marco asked from somewhere.

"I will permit it" Splinter now, and we all turned as he sat on the chair near where the sparing area was going to be. I was kind of glad that the rest of our families had left at this point, not knowing what my dad or brothers would think of this. Conner would probably think it's cage fighting or something... freak out and tell us not to do it...

"All right!" Raph was flicking his Sais around, grinning madly "Let's do this!"

"That's my line" Rachel grumbled, folding her arms in front of her. She obviously wasn't impressed that she wasn't included.

"I do believe I have medical equipment in the fighter if any of you are injured" Rtaia said, sitting beside Splinter, and we soon all followed, sitting on the cool ground and watching as they all took a stance in a large circle.

"Bet Raph and Leo will go for each other" Kristiana whispered in my ear, and I half nodded, looking at Ithiell. He was on all fours, his tail whipping slowly back and forth, eyes narrowed and waiting for the go ahead.

Splinter would be the referee, and us girls would all... well, help in a way.

"Hey Marco" Tobias half nudged him "Why aren't we in on this?"

"Because my fighting days are over man" Marco clasped his hands behind his head "Not even sparring..."

"Well... that doesn't sound fun" Rachel raised an eyebrow at him.

"What can I say" Marco suddenly grinned "I'm a lover, not a fighter... and a great lover, so I'm-"

"Ewww! Marco!" Tobias pushed him now, making him almost fall over "Too much info man"'

"Fight!" Splinters voice cut the conversation short, and we all turned to see the six boys start to run at each other.

As predicted, Raph and Leo went at it, blades and sais making a loud clash, before they both flipped away from each other, taking a quick stance before it was on again. I was surprised to see Donnie take a swing at Ithiell, who expertly dodged, almost flying at him.

Robert and Mikey were on each other, Mikey managing to get a hit in on Robert's side, who growled and dove at him harder. Mikey dodged, before they went for one another again.

The rest of us just stared in awe as the boys went at it, attacks flying madly, but none of them lethal thankfully.

Soon Mikey got knocked into Leo and Raph's fight, and he had to dodge attacks from them as the opponents switched. Robert went for Raph, and Leo started to swing his katanas at Mikey, who knocked them away with his nunchucks.

Then, before we knew, it, opponents had changed again. Ithiell and Robert had somehow managed to find each other in a one on one battle. Donnie had just stepped back, his Bo almost smacking Raph in the back of the head, and soon the hotheaded turtle was on him, almost knocking the Bo out of Donnie's hands. But Donnie kept his grip firm, soon cracking the Bo at Raph and making him step back a little.

"Holy... this is just too much!" Rachel suddenly exploded upwards, her hands balled into fists "I can't just sit here"

I saw her grab Jade's arm, who looked genuinely confused, moving her over to a spot not far from where the six were going at it.

"Rach-" Jade yelped, ducking when Rachel swung a fist, backflipping when she started to kick at Jade.

"What in the world?" Was all came got out of my mouth, watching as Jade blocked kicks and punches coming at her, managing to get in a swing herself, which Rachel quickly blocked.

"Girls sparring sesh! Let's go!" Serah got up, soon jumping into the mix, watching as Jade was now trying to block attacks by Serah as well. Thankfully, Jade had more experience when it came to fighting, although I could see she was struggling.

That's when I made my decision.

I had to go save my best friend!

I got up, moving over to the trio, sweeping my leg as Rachel came close and knocking her down.

"Oh... so you're here too!" Rachel grinned, going to get up, then both of us almost being barrelled down by Jade and Serah.

"Now all they need is bikinis and some mud and it would be a show!" Came Marco's laugh.

"You're disgusting" Came Tobias's response as I righted myself, looking around at the three other girls.

"Ha!" Rachel threw out a leg to me, and I managed to push it aside, glad I'd spent some time training with Splinter now, before the other two exploded into action.

"Look-" Kristiana tried to call, but it was too late. My back slammed into a large chest, the two of us tumbling to the ground.

I looked up to see Mikey smiling sheepishly at me, and I went to apologise, before both of us realised Leo was coming at us, yelping and scrambling to get out of the way.

"Toss aside your weapons, now!" Splinter instructed, and I soon heard the clatter of katanas, as well as saw Sais tossed to the ground, now sticking up from the earth.

Soon, it was just pure madness. I was dodging attacks from the other girls, as well as trying not to get flattened by the boys.

I threw my own kick, getting Donnie in the side and hearing him grunt, going to turn to me before he was body slammed by Leo, the two of them tumbling to the ground, head over shell.

"This is madness!" Jade cried as she dodged under an attack by Mikey, watching her backflip away from Raph, before I had to duck my own opponent.

"This is so much fun!" Rachel yelled, cat rolling sideways as Mikey now came at her, then out of the way as Robert went past, before Ithiell was on me, slamming into me and half knocking me to the ground.

"Hello there" He grinned "Long time no-"

He stopped talking when we both saw Leo come at us, rolling us out of the way as he threw a blind punch.

"Uh, guys?" Came Krisitana's voice, but I think we were all focused on just trying not to get hit in this pile of utter madness.

"Guys!" She called again, but I don't think anyone was listening as I finally found Jade, smiling at her as both of us started to-

I half yelped as I felt some unseen force grab me, lifting me slightly in the air. I looked around to see the others had the same... uh... problem.

"Guys!" We now looked at Kristiana, who was holding a hand up and probably using her telekinesis to hold us in the air, using the other to point towards where our kids were.

"Oh boy..." Ithiell muttered from somewhere as I saw Jake almost bodyslam into Eoran, hearing him let out a surprised cry. I noticed Dean was between the girls, although they were being a little less brutal than Jake and Eoran were being.

"They are copying your actions, it seems" Rtaia observed, getting a little annoyed at her calm tone. I don't think I'd ever heard her just loose it...

"So... who votes the next time we spar like this, we don't do it around the kids" I said, hearing them mutter sounds of agreement.

"Glad that's sorted" Kristiana sighed, then suddenly we were all dropped, hitting the ground hard.

I would have to... thank... her later.

 **-x-x-x-xx-x-xx-x-x-x-  
**

 **Whoo! Who thought that was intense? I did! :D  
**

 **Anyway, as always... hope you enjoyed! Let me know if you do!**

 **Constructive Criticism appreciated!  
**


	8. School Daze

**Chapter 8  
**

 **-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-**

 **Rachel  
**

I glared at my husband, who was wearing a hole in the carpet of the living room with his pacing.

He saw me watching and stopped, glaring back.

"What?"

"Cut it out"

Raph just growled, continuing to pace.

I shook my head, instead deciding to go into the kitchen and get Jake's lunch ready. I knew he was worried about our little guy, but... geez, so was I!

I had tried to calm him down before, but I found he was too riled up, which was getting me riled up.

It was going to be the kids first day at an actual school, and I think we were all feeling about the same. It had been a tough decision for all of us, wondering if they would be accepted. Or if they would be attacked and ridiculed...

The world still remembered what we did... how much was sacrificed, but now... well, the world was smaller than when the war first started.

Even five years ahead, the world was still suffering. It had gone from over six billion people, to barely three billion. Which still seems like a lot but...

Well, alot of people died in that war... for no reason either, thanks to the Yeerks.

The thought of them made my blood boil, knowing they were the reason that my best friend and cousin were gone. There wasn't a day I didn't think of them...

But... anyway, we had reached out to a smaller school near all of us, one who was happy to take our children, and would watch them all carefully. Ithiell and Donnie had done their research into the school as well, making sure there were not little hidden secrets that might be dangerous to our children.

It was a big step, letting them go out into the world, and I could understand Raph's worry, but...

Well, he wasn't doing me any favors, pacing like that.

"Jake sweetheart, are you ready?" I called out finally, knowing the only thing that would stop us from ripping one anothers heads off is if we got moving.

"Yeah!" Came the little reply from what sounded like the living room now, turning to go into the room, his school bag in hand.

I stopped to see Raph kneeling in front of Jake, fixing the small hat we'd managed to find for him a little while back. Jake's smile was...

Well, he was happy, and it was so innocent and genuine.

I started to worry about him going out into the world, and loosing that sweet innocence of his...

Like their fathers, our children really couldn't wear many pieces of clothing. The boys always had shorts on though, and the girls... well, we had to be inventive with tops lets just say.

Right now Jake was in little pants, which belonged to the school, and specially made socks and shoes.

Raph was returning his smile, then picked Jake up and put him on his shoulder. Jake giggled as Raph had a firm hold on him, walking over to me and smiling suddenly.

"I think he'll do good"

I just stared at him.

"What?"

"Oh... _now_ you're okay with it" I shook my head, trying to curb my anger as I moved towards the door. This was an important day for my son... in fact all the kids... and I didn't want to ruin it.

We got into the car, strapping our son in and heading towards the school. Thankfully it was only a short drive, and when we got there we saw the others in the parking lot, all of them looking about the same as I felt.

I parked the car, both of us getting out and Raph going to pull our son out, surprised when he escaped Raph's grasp and latched onto my leg instead.

"Mum, can you carry me?" He asked, looking up at me with those big eyes of his. I couldn't help but smile, picking him up and handing the school bag over to Raph, who almost took it gingerly, rolling his eyes.

"Hey guys!" Serah called, waving at us as we came up to their little group just a few feet from the cars.

"Hey, what's happening?" I asked as I moved over, realising how heavy Jake was once again. His shell made him feel alot heavier than he should have been at his age.

But... I wouldn't have changed him for the world.

"Oh, not much, just... hanging around" Amanda sighed a little, pointing at the tree near us. I blinked a little, seeing both Ithiell and Eoran were up in the tree, Eoran giggling like he was the happiest kid in the world.

"Do you think they'll be all right? I mean... this _is_ a human school" Mikey cringed a little, holding Cassie closer to him. Cassie herself was smiling happily, her hair now up in little pigtails. Her cheeks looked almost flushed as she cuddled into her dad, kicking her legs and looking around at us.

She was always such a happy baby...

"They'll be fine Mikey. They can... well, maybe they can go out into the world now, and do what we couldn't when we were their age" Leo said, patting his son on the head, who was half talking to Miah. I noticed Miah had her hair in pig tails too, but she just looked... well, older than five years old.

I noticed those two were close as cousins, and they had an odd connection the rest of us couldn't quite figure out. I mean, they were all close, but...

"I hope you're right" Jade frowned a little "I just... I'm so worried something is going to happen"

"I have hacked into their security networks and with Ithiell's help, I will place a drone to survey the school" Donnie was doing something on his blue screen, and I just sighed.

"Anyone hurts my boy... or his cousins... I'm gonna-"

"Raph, please settle"I asked, looking up at him with pleading eyes "It's bad enough I'm scared for him, but you being scared for him is just..."

"Sorry" He said softly, moving to put an arm around me, kissing my hair.

"Guys, it's just a school" Kristiana spoke up, watching as Ithiell and Eoran now jumped down, Eoran heading straight for Amanda "They'll be okay"

"And if they're not?"

"Well" She frowned, half pointing to one of the cars, all of us following her gaze as it started to lift into the air.

"If they're not, I think the school will quickly regret it"

"Ah, there you all are" We heard, all of us turning to see the principal of the school walking up to us.

She was tall and almost too thin, her grey hair held back in a tight bun. Dark eyes flashed from one family to the next, smiling as she walked up to us.

"Oh, good morning Mrs Klepchek" Kristiana said, and we all greeted her similarly as she finally reached us. I set Jake down next to his cousins, surprised when the three of them now huddled together, Eoran soon joining them. They all looked almost... shy.

"Good morning, I see we have five new students" She smiled, kneeling down to the four kids.

Mikey however, held a little tighter to Cassie.

"Babe.." I heard Kristiana whisper in his ear, hearing him sigh and finally let Cassie down, where she joined the others. I saw her take Jake's hand, all of them looking up at the principal.

"They are sure tall for their age, aren't they" She grinned again, standing up and looking to each of us.

"Well... they are... mu-" I stopped Raph from saying the word by covering his lips with my hand.

"They aren't normal children" Amanda continued for him, looking from the turtles to Ithiell "Their fathers-"

Mrs Klepchek held up a hand, smiling a little, and we all just looked at her.

"What you have all done for the earth... for my family, and the people left here, it's inspiring. So please, don't feel like you need to explain who you or your children are. I can't thank you enough for saving us... my husband and son..."

Tears were now brimming her eyes as she smiled at us, wiping them away. We waited until she composed herself, smiling again at each of us.

"I'm sorry, but... please, don't worry about them. I'll make sure they're seen as equals and treated the same way"

"That's all we ask. We don't want them treated special because... of how they look" I nodded at her, then looked at Jake, who was patting Cassie's shell a little.

"I'll give you a moment to say goodbye, then I'll take them into their first class" She smiled again, and we all nodded at her.

"Jake, c'mere a minute" Raph called to him, both of us kneeling down as he came to us, a smile on his face. I half noticed the other kids going to each of their parents as well.

"Now you be good, okay?" I told him, giving him the biggest hug I could manage. He returned it, humming in agreement.

"Okay mama, I'll be good"

"We mean it kiddo" Raph grunted as he pulled away to look at his father "Don't... don't do anything your dad would do, okay?"

He nodded, grinning madly, and Raph pulled him in for a hug as well, the look on Raph's face...

I couldn't help but put a hand on his shoulder, making him look at me over his son's smaller form, smiling at me in reassurance.

He let go of Jake, moving to stand up and patting his head "Now get going you little rascal"

Jake nodded excitedly, joining his cousins and Eoran in the little group they'd formed in front of Mrs Klepchek. I saw Cassie lean close to him, and he took her hand again.

He was so protective of Cassie, it made me smile.

Jake would have liked little Jacob, no matter what he was...

"All right kids... we all ready to go?" Mrs Klepchek asked, looking at each of them in turn and smiling, all of them returning with an enthusiastic yes.

"All right... come on then" She turned to walk away, with the five now walking excitedly behind her-

"Stop!"

We all looked to Donnie, who seemed angry to say the least. I saw Raph's fist curl into-

"What's wrong?" Jade asked, looking up at him, but he was staring at Miah. Miah herself was looking up at him with wide eyes, almost confused it seemed.

I watched him walk over, kneeling in front of her and holding out his hand.

"Give"

She shook her head "Nuh-uh"

"Miah Rose Harper, if I have to-"

"Nooo" Miah whined, bouncing up and down a little and giving Donnie an almost pleading look.

Donnie however, wasn't impressed.

"Miah..." Now Jade, moved over "What do you have?"

Miah pouted, looking from one parent to the other, before slowly reaching into her bag and pulling out some kind of gadget that obviously belonged to Donnie.

She handed it to him, and his features relaxed a little, still not looking happy with her.

"You know that wasn't a nice thing to do, stealing daddy's things" Jade told her, and she pouted again.

"Now you go to school, and be good" He told her, grabbing the sides of her shell and spinning her around "And no tinkering with things"

She grudgingly moved along, joining her cousins and Eoran as they now finally walked towards and into the school.

Raph suddenly burst into laughter beside me, making everyone look at him. He just grinned.

"And here I thought our lives would be boring. Having kids just makes it that much more interesting!"

I had to agree with him there.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

I looked around our bedroom, seeing it was almost sparkling. I think I'd just spent about two hours just cleaning it...

I wasn't one to clean often, but today I think I was just very restless.

Without Jake around to take care of, or the dojo to run, there really wasn't much to do. Raph had gone out to train with Leo for a bit, but as far as I knew he wouldn't be too long.

So... it was just me. Alone... in the house.

Doing housework of all things.

I went to move into the living room, seeing it wasn't too bad and giving up for the time being. It was almost two, and I wanted to be ready for when it came time to pick Jake up. I just hoped Raph wouldn't be too much longer...

I got into the shower, turning the taps on and just enjoying the warmth of the water.

The water itself seemed to take the edge off my restlessness, and I stood in there for probably longer than I should, soon finding I wasn't exactly alone in the house.

"Hey" I jumped, spinning around and seeing the shower curtain move, already starting to morph before I realised who the voice belonged to.

"Oh, you scared the shit outta me. What are you doing sneaking up on me like that?" I snapped at Raph as he joined me in the shower, his hands resting on my waist as he smiled down at me. I could tell he was sweaty from training...

"Just keeping you on your toes" He grinned, his hands starting to wander, and I slapped them away.

"Urgh, you _reek_... get your butt under that water and clean yourself" I told him, pushing him towards the water spray, then moving to grab my towel from beside the shower.

I yelped when he slapped my bare butt, turning to glare at him.

"You..." I growled a little, grabbing my towel and getting out of the shower, hearing him laugh as I moved into our bedroom to get dressed.

My phone started to ring, going over to the beside table to pick it up, freezing as I looked at the number.

"Rach?" I heard the call from the shower, but I ignored him, answering my phone.

"Mrs Berenson?"

"Uh, yes?"

"It's Mrs Klepchek, would you be able to come to the school? There's been an... incident"

"Is Jake okay?" I blurted, moving to head into the bathroom, indicating Raph hurry up. He looked confused, but caught the towel I threw at him.

"Oh, he's all right, everyone is fine. Are you able to come to the school now?"

"We'll be right there" I hung up with the principal, indicating Raph get his gear on and come with me right now.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know, let's just get to the school"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Jake was looking at the floor, his hands behind his back and drawing circles with his foot. On the other side of the room, stood a very angry looking kid. I didn't like him, the look of him...

"So, what's all this about?" I asked, wanting to go to my son, instead sitting on the seats provided for us, next to two other people who I could only guess were the parents of the young boy. Raph however, opted to stand behind the chair that was set out for him.

"Well, as I said on the phone, there has been an... incident"

"As long as no one is hurt" I said, looking at the other couple and feeling a little... well, intimidated. They looked to be in their mid thirties, both in business attire, and neither of them looking impressed as they almost glared at me and Raph.

"Well... Steven here has uh..." She looked at the boy, and that's when I saw he was holding his arm a little. It was bandaged slightly...

"All right, what's happened?" Raph asked, and I put my hand on his arm, trying to calm him even though I felt the same way.

What did Jake do?

 _Maybe he didn't realise that-_

"Well, the teacher witnessed your son Jake, pushing Steven quite hard into a table just before lunch ended" Mrs Klepchek said, indicating to both the boys as she spoke "He hit the corner of the table and sprained his arm"

"Jake" I scolded, although lightly, watching as he looked up at me finally. There were tears in his eyes...

"Now, Jake hasn't spoken since, or given reason as to why-"

"He's a monster! He didn't like me so he pushed me!" Steven cried out, interrupting the principal and pointing wildly with his other hand at Jake.

"I... I am not..." Jake bit his lip, looking at me. The tears in his eyes became too much for me to bear, and I moved to kneel in front of him, wrapping him in my arms and holding him close.

"Don't you _dare_ call him a monster!" Raph stood up, pointing at the boy, who now cowered a little. I saw his father go over and do what I was doing with Jake, before Raph came over to us.

"Now, we will not be calling _anyone_ a monster. _Everyone_ has the right to be here" Mrs Klepchek responded in a level voice, and I watched as Raph started to pat Jake's hair gently. Jake sniffled a little.

"I... I apologise for my outburst" Raph was tight lipped.

"Well.. you are a-"

"Enough!" The Principal snapped, slamming her hands on the desk and stopping the boys mother from finishing that sentence. When none of us spoke, she sat down, and continued.

"Now... Mrs Berenson, I brought you here in hopes you would be able to help with this matter. I get the feeling that your son is not one to do something... aggressive... without reason behind it"

"Well, he pushes his cousins around a bit, but he knows when to stop, and he _never_ hurts them" I told her, looking at the boys mother. She was looking down at me... probably because I was still fairly young. Also probably because I was married to my big protective turtle.

"All right... now, Jake. Would you like to tell us why you pushed Steven?" She asked, getting up from behind her desk and walking over to kneel in front of Jake. To my sons credit, he wiped his tears, moving away from me to look at her.

"I... didn't mean to... he... he was..."

"Stupid monster!" Came the boys cry, and I glared at him "He did it on purpose! He _wanted_ to hurt me!"

"I did not!" Jake responded, new tears brimming his eyes "You were hurting my cousins!"

"Jake" I got him to look at me, surprised at the anger now in his eyes.

"Mom, he was hurtin Cassie. Pulling at her hair. Miah tried to stop him, but he pulled her hair too!"

"What?!" The boys father wasn't impressed "My son would never-"

"He hurt Miah and Cass! I... I just wanted to stop him from... from hurtin them"

"Oh... Donnie and Mikey are gonna be ticked..." Raph grumbled from beside me, stepping back a little.

" _They're_ gonna be ticked? Oh... Jade and Kristiana will be absolutely _fuming_..." I added, watching as Mrs Klepchek got up, moving to sit back behind her desk. I saw her start to scribble something on her notepad.

"This is an outrage! These... _freaks_... need to be taken out and-"

"Don't you _dare_ talk about us like that, we are not _freaks_ " Raph spat, squaring up with Steven's father. He looked about ready to pound the guy into the ground. I just hoped he would curb his anger just long enough for us to get out of there.

"All right, that's it" Mrs Klepchek stood up again, looking from one angry father to another "Mister Greaves, if you forget, you are looking at one of the turtles who saved this world, so I suggest you give him... perhaps... a little respect"

"I don't care! His son hurt mine, I want him-"

"No" Her voice was calm, which surprised me.

" _What_ did you say? Do you know who I _am_? I could-"

" _Don't_ threaten _me_ Mister Greaves, your _son_ brought this on himself, and I believe Jake when he said he defended his cousins. And because of this, and other reasons now brought to light, I am now _expelling_ your son. Please _leave_ "

My jaw dropped, and I looked from Raph to the Principal, then down to my son. He looked equally shocked, even for a five year old.

"Uh... did I hear you right?" The woman stood up, coming towards me and my son. I quickly got to my feet, pushing Jake behind me. She stopped, now just pointing at me.

"You're expelling me but not this... this... _abomination?_!"

"For the last time, the names are _unnecessary_! He is a _five_ year old boy that made a _mistake_ , by trying to protect his family. And I am sick to _death_ of you and people _like_ you coming into _my_ school and assuming the _worst_ of people, even those who look a little different! _No_ other student in this school has been as _discriminating_ towards these five children besides you! I want you _out_ of this school, and _now_ "

Again, I was shocked. I half expected us to be taking Jake home permanently, and here... this principal was telling us that this boy who had hurt our family was going to be expelled.

" _Fine_ , but we _will_ be reporting you!" The woman grabbed her son and stormed out of the office, her husband in tow.

"Good luck!" Came the principals response as the door slammed, and we turned to look at her.

"Wow... that was..." Raph shook his head, turning back to her "I never... have had a... normal... human, stand up for us like that"

Mrs Klepchek just smiled at us "Not all humans think of differences as 'freaky'. Plus, I believe Jake. He's a good kid. Just... has a little bit of an anger issue"

Raph chuckled a little "Well, he gets that from me"

"Both of us" I added, looking down at Jake as he hugged me tightly. Poor kid had just had a horrible experience...

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you and your family aren't treated like that again. Although... I will treat them like all the other kids here"

"That's fine by us" Raph answered and I looked up at him.

I don't think I'd ever seen him look so happy and relieved.

 **-x-x-x-xx-x-xx-x-x-x-  
**

 **Sorry this is so long guys... I just wanted to do all this stuff in the chapter so I packed it all in!**

 **Hope you enjoyed! Let me know if you do!**

 **Constructive Criticism appreciated!  
**


	9. A Very Special Christmas

**Chapter 9  
**

 **-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-**

 **Kristiana  
**

As soon as I woke up I stretched a little without meaning to, feeling the warm body move and grumble beside me. I looked up from the chest I was laying on, seeing Mikey's eyes open to slits, the tired blue orbs looking down at me.

"Hey" I managed to croak out, smiling a little as I gave him a small squeeze with the arm that was still draped over his waist.

"Hey" He responded in the same sleep clogged tone, returning the pressure with the arm that was around my shoulders.

"Sorry for waking you" I mumbled, cuddling into his side and just enjoying the warmth. I wondered if I'd be able to fall back asleep, feeling so nice and warm...

"It's cool babe. I was kinda half awake anyway" He responded, and I felt his lips on my forehead.

I moved my head up to look at him, finding our faces were so very close...

His lips were soon touching mine, and I responded in turn, both of us waking up a little more now.

I gasped a little when his other hand now wandered, landing on my thigh, just at the hem of my nightie.

"Mikey... it's..." I tried to say, getting lost in another playful kiss.

"I know... but... I want to..." He never got to finish, instead moving to straddle my hips, sending hot kisses down my neck. I was starting to wonder if I really wanted him to stop...

I felt him start to undress me a little, giving in to it finally. Even after all these years... my turtle boy knew how to get to me...

 _ **BAM!**_

A sound at our door made us both jump a little, looking at one another. Then... the handle started to turn...

"Um..." Mikey looked at a loss as to what to do, both of us breathing a sigh of relief when the door clicked, signalling that it was locked.

"Good thing I remembered" I half whispered to him, just before we heard,

"Mooooooom! Daaaaaad!"

I couldn't help but giggle, seeing Mikey shake his head a little as he moved off me, half laying beside me as he propped himself up with an elbow.

"Maybe tonight" I told him, tapping his cheek a little and watching him roll his eyes, just before we heard the little voice repeat its low whine.

I fixed myself up, making sure we were both presentable, before using my powers to unlock our bedroom door, a small but cheerful figure almost crashing through it.

"Momdad!" She almost screeched, jumping onto the bed and almost crash tackling us.

"Urgh! What?" I returned the half hug she was giving me, seeing her move to look up at me with those bright blue eyes.

"We gotta go! Santa's been here!"

I shared a look with Mikey, who was now grinning madly. He was never sad for too long, and the sight of his little seven year old princess just seemed to brighten his mood, no matter what she was doing. Unless she was sick... then he would worry more than me.

"Well, what are you waitin for little girl, let's go see what he left!" Instantly Mikey was up, sweeping Cassie in his arms and the two of them disappearing out the door, Cassie squealing happily.

I heard them thundering towards the living room as I moved to plant my legs on the ground, grabbing my dressing gown and throwing it over my shoulders as I stood up. I could hear Mikey doing his giggle, and Cassie saying something to him.

Christmas day was usually like this, only... this time there was going to be one change.

This time? We'd be going on a big family holiday.

There was a ski resort a few hours from us, and all of the families would be going this time. Usually we'd all meet at the base in the afternoon, but this time we decided to do something different.

Plus... Mikey had a special gift for Cassie today. Well, we all had special gifts for the kids. But... we wanted to wait until we were all together to give it to them. It would be a good Christmas indeed...

"Hey, babe!" Mikey indicated I come over as soon as I hit the doorway, grinning excitedly at me. I took a moment to look at all the already opened presents as I stepped into the room, then at the one he was holding out to me. It was small, and terribly wrapped, but the smile on his face told me it was something he had made himself, with love, and he was very proud of it.

I was proud of him too... I loved gifts that were hand made...

I moved over, sitting beside him and half cuddling into him, seeing Cassie collapse to her knees in front of us and grinning madly as well.

"Open it mom! Open it! Open-"

"Settle down Cass" I laughed, lifting my arm so she could move under it, setting the present on my lap and using my free hand to open it slowly.

There was alot of sticky tape on it, and it looked to be double wrapped, so I had a little trouble opening it with just one hand. Soon Cassie helped with her free hand, revealing what looked to be a little box. It was painted an array of colours, some mixing in with the others, but it was still very pretty.

I lifted the lid, seeing a crudely made little ballerina, and hearing a soft melody start to play.

"I painted it!" Cassie announced, half digging her head into my shoulder as she touched the edges of the box.

"And I made it" I looked up at Mikey, who I was surprised was frowning a little "Sorry it looks kinda..."

"Oh babe, I love it! Looks like you guys really put alot of effort into this" I moved a little to kiss his cheek, seeing the smile return to his face.

"And you" I turned to Cassie, who had taken the box and who was now admiring her handiwork it seemed. She looked up at me when I said this, the look her face now going from happy to almost confusion.

She yelped a little when I grabbed her, squeezing her tight.

"You are my little artist! I love you so much!"

She made a cute giggle, soon hugging me back.

"Love you too ma"

"And I love you both!" Suddenly we were both trapped in Mikey's arms, being lifted a little off the ground as he laughed.

Being with my family was really the most wonderful feeling in the world.

-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Whoa" Mikey just stared in awe at the rolling mountainside in front of us.

"You've seen snow before" I told him, hearing Cassie get out of the car behind us, her feet crunching a little on the ground.

"Oh wooow... soo coooool!"

"Oh look at that!" Mikey pointed, and we all turned to see someone explode over one of the snow dunes on a snow mobile not far off, flying around a corner and disappearing again.

"Oh dad, look!" Cassie pointed, seeing all the people on skis or snowboards going down the mountain, all at different speeds.

"Oooh, gotta try that!" Mikey grinned, looking over at me. I shook my head a little.

"Me too! Me too!"

"Cassie" I warned, knowing I had to be careful with her now. She would always try and copy what Mikey did, sometimes almost hurting herself. I knew my husband could handle himself, but Cassie... well, she sometimes over-estimated abilities. I loved her enthusiasm, but I just wished she'd take after me sometimes...

"She can learn with an instructor... but... man, this reminds me when we fought the Shredder the first time!"

"Oh dad, dad, tell me again!" Cassie jumped up and down now, and I couldn't help but sigh a little.

"All right, you can tell her while we get unpacked" I told him "But nothing bad, remember?"

"Oh, I know babe" He nodded, moving to the back of the car and opening it. Slowly, Mikey proceeded to tell the... well, Mikey version... of the events from his youth, all of us managing to get settled inside our room in the lodge to wait for the others.

"And then he like... fell, and bounced around on the ground!" Mikey finally ended as I started the fire in our room, grateful to be inside again. I loved snow, but I hated how numb your fingers and toes got. And my nose felt like it had fallen off...

"Oh dad, that was awesome!" Cassie started to jump up and down on the smaller bed, stopping when I gave her a look.

"Oh yeah, and then we fell with the big canister... thingy... and when it hit the ground we stopped it from... well, hittin the ground!"

"Good use of words hun" I shook my head, grinning in spite of myself and moving to go unpack our bags. We'd be here for a week together, which would be a nice change from our usual routine.

The dojo was so successful, we had managed to sell it off and split the profits between us. Now, we were able to travel around a bit more, provided it wasn't on school weeks. I was told that Donnie and Jade had taken a holiday to France recently, back to the now restored Eiffel tower, where Donnie had originally proposed to her. I still remembered the utter shock in her voice when he did...

The thought of the old days made me smile a little, getting lost in the memory of when I first met Mikey...

He had been so attentive to me when I was hurt. At first I was a little creeped out, especially after all I'd been through, loosing control of my body, finding out aliens exited...

After a while though, it was just nice to have the company, and his gentleness just eased any worries I had about him and his brothers.

He had become my protector... my knight in shining armor. I was so surprised to find I had feelings for the orange clad turtle, his smile just making my heart jump, and his touch making it beat faster every time he helped me.

Even now, almost nine years later, I was still so in love with my cheeky turtle. Even more so when I watched him and Cassie.

I still couldn't believe how much she'd grown, looking at her as the two sat on the bed, talking in excited tones about what they wanted to do here. I overheard talk about building a snowman too...

I eventually got them to help me unpack a little, before there was a sharp knock at the door.

"Whoo iiis iiiit?" Mikey called playfully.

"Miah Rose" Came the little girls voice, then a noise and "Oh, and the parents!"

"Miah!" I heard Jade scold before I opened the door, almost being barrelled over by Miah as she dove into the room. I turned in time to see her crash tackle Cassie off the bed, both of them shrieking as they hit the floor with a thump.

I turned back to let Jade and Donnie in, hearing the two girls now squealing in delight.

"They're excited" Donnie chuckled a little, moving over to greet Mikey.

"One day they're going to hurt themselves" I muttered, looking at Jade who nodded in agreement.

"Miah doesn't know her own strength"

"Neither does Cass" I shook my head, watching as Mikey latched onto Donnie in a big hug, one which Donnie slowly returned.

Eventually the others showed up, and we all moved into what looked to be the main room of the lodge, sitting around and realising how quiet it was inside.

But... of course... most people were out hitting the slopes and having the time of their lives. Even for the early evening though, it was fairly... serene.

A large christmas tree was off to the side, and we took up the seats near it, seeing Splinter having a little trouble sitting down. Thankfully Mikey and Leo were there, settling him in... but it still worried me...

He really was getting on in age, but I watched as the kids all went up to him, sitting beside or near him as we settled our own selves around in a weird circle.

"This is nice... somewhere different for a change" Serah smiled, half sitting on Leo.

"Yeah, we needed to do something different... and it's something the kids will remember" Amanda added, linking her arm through Ithiell's and pulling him towards her. He made a weird sound, half glaring at her.

"And you just had to find some place colder than the city to go"

"It's not that bad" Raph grunted, his arms folded in front of him. He was the only one of us who was still standing.

"Okay, enough chat" Rachel broke in, smiling and looking at all of us "Let's get to the _real_ reason why we're here"

"Quick and straight to the point... as usual" Leo shook his head a little, smiling anyway.

"Well... it is a special event. Well, kind of" Donnie shifted his glasses up again, looking lovingly at his daughter. Miah herself was giggling with her cousins, talking in little whispers and all of them including Splinter in on their little secrets. Splinter himself looked amused to say the least.

Mikey looked at me, the excitement in his eyes hard to ignore.

"All right, boys... up you get. Kids... line up" I told them, seeing Splinter's brow furrow in confusion, knowing this would make him probably the happiest of all of us. Well, I know Serah and I were still a little undecided, but... well, what could you do?

We had made sure that the staff knew we were doing this, before we did... knowing it would probably freak them out seeing what they were about to. Either way, it was going to prove to be interesting...

I watched as Ithiell and the four brothers stood up, all with different size boxes in their hands, wrapped in Christmas paper. The kids all lined up awkwardly, slightly pushing and shoving each other.

"Kids... line up in front of your dads" Serah told them, watching as they moved around now, Dean and Jake pushing one another a little.

"All right, now... this is something that we all agreed on, so I hope you enjoy these presents" Amanda said, and us girls shared a look. I kind of wondered if any of them wouldn't want their gifts. The boys had definitely put love into these presents, making them by hand...

"All right, here you go" Raph gave Jake his box, seeing the others do the same. I watched Cassie carefully as she ripped at the wrapping paper, tearing the box open excitedly...

And then she stopped, staring at what was inside. I half noticed the others as they did, but my focus was now on my daughter. There was shock on her face, her mouth open slightly.

Slowly, very slowly it seemed, she pulled out the specially made nunchucks, looking them over slowly. It was hard to tell if she was happy or just plain shocked. I looked up at Mikey, now seeing the worry on his face. I opened my mouth to say-

"OOOOOH! THIS IS AWESOME!" Cassie squealed, hearing all the other kids erupt in a similar way.

I looked at each of them as Jake gently thumbed the Sai's, Miah lift the Bo she had been given and almost hit Dean, seeing Donnie stop her before she could. Dean was... well he was playfully lifting the katanas up, before aiming them back at the box they had been in. Eoran was looking over some kind of large techy kind of device, his big eyes now wide.

"Mom!" Cassie giggled, pointing to the nunchucks that we had given her, noticing Mikey's joy at seeing his daughter so happy.

"I know, but kids... stop for a minute" I told them all, seeing they were all still too excited to really hear me.

"Oy!" Rachel snapped, and they soon quietened down, look from us to their fathers, who were still standing dutifully in front of them. Leo cleared his throat.

"This family has always believed very strongly in traditions. And in keeping to these traditions, we have decided that we would like to pass our knowledge... and our training... onto the five of you. Yes, even you Eoran. But..."

He stopped, and all the kids looked at him expectantly. After a tense moment, he continued.

"But you all must be willing to accept our knowledge and training completely. As we have specialised in these weapons, we would like you to as well. To become ninjas... as we have"

"Yes!" Dean said, standing up and surprising us all by bowing "I want to learn... and I want to be just as good as you, if not better!"

"Yeah!" Miah jumped up now, grinning "I wanna be like you dad... I wanna learn the Bo!"

"I want to show you what I can do dad!" Jake now.

"I wanna be a tekni- techni... that word, genius! _And_ learn to be a ninja!" Eoran pumped his fist in the air.

"I want to kick butt and take down bad guys like daddy!" Cassie jumped up, nunchucks in hand, starting to spin them a little.

"My sons... and daughters" Splinter's voice now made us look over at him, surprised to see him smiling, a glimmer in his eyes.

"This makes me very happy... to see and to hear. And to know... our family traditions will not be easily forgotten"

"Never Sensei" Leo smiled "We will always remember what you taught us"

"And now... we'll be teaching it to the next generation" Raph smiled too, nodding at his master.

A yelp made me look over to Cassie, realising she'd just hit herself with the nunchucks, all of us having a little giggle.

This would definitely make life _alot_ more interesting from now on.

 **-x-x-x-xx-x-xx-x-x-x-  
**

 **Hope you enjoyed! Let me know if you do!**

 **Constructive Criticism appreciated!  
**


	10. The Strength Of Family

**Chapter 10  
**

 **-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-**

 **Serah  
**

I tried to wipe the tears from my eyes, finding it was useless as I reached for the door, along with Rachel. My mind and body were numb at this point, pushing the left door open and stepping out into the light drizzle outside. Soon, my tears were mixing in with the rain, making it that much harder to see.

 _How could this be real..._

Both Rachel and I moved out of the path of the four boys, Ithiell taking up the rear, as they all carried the casket that held Splinters body inside. The thought, and sight, put a horrible ache in my heart...

Splinter...

His poor old body had given up one night, and no one, not even Rtaia's healing abilities could have done anything. It was just... his time to go...

Or so my mother told me earlier that morning. Yet... even she seemed upset about his... his...

I shook the thought, wiping the tears from my eyes and trying to focus on the four turtles as they hit the bottom of the stairs. Slowly, almost gently, they all turned to the waiting hearse, moving to put the casket inside, watching as the funeral directors moved to stand on either side. When the casket was in, they closed the doors, looking up at the four brothers.

"We will take him down to the burial site" The lady said, bowing respectfully, both of them heading towards the front of the vehicle. As they got in and started the engine, I turned to look at everyone else around me.

The other girls seemed just as upset as I was, and Ithiell and the boys were... well, they all looked torn to put it plainly. Slowly, my eyes trailed towards the kids, who were now bringing up the rear. My eyes landed on Dean first, seeing that in spite his own tears, he was comforting Cassie. Cassie was torn it seemed, and Miah didn't look much better. She was tightly holding hands with Jake, half leaning her head on his shoulder. Jake himself didn't seem to mind the closeness, his other arm half hooked over Eoran's small shoulders.

They were all ten now... and I was so amazed at how well they were taking this. They were... all of them... trying so hard to just be there for their fathers...

"Let's get this thing over with" Raph growled, moving away from the rest of them, with Mikey reaching for his brother.

"Raph..." Came his croaky voice, but I soon saw Kristiana there, her arm around him as tears brimmed his eyes.

"I'll get him" Rachel said, moving off. Jake went to go after them, but Amanda put a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait here little buddy, your mom and dad need to have a talk okay? They'll be back"

"But... Aunt Manda..."

"He has to do this on the _worst_ days" Donnie spoke up, sounding surprisingly disgusted for him, shaking his head at where the two were going.

"Let's... just start walking..." Leo grunted "If he's not there by the time we get there..."

"I'm sure he will hun" I told him, going to touch his arm but finding he'd moved before I could. I felt myself start to tear up again, gritting my teeth a little to get some control as I watched him walk off, the others now following him.

"Thanks Leo" I muttered, feeling Kristiana and Jade now put an arm each around my waist, moving me along and after the others.

"He's just upset Ser" Jade muttered so the others couldn't hear "It should pass"

"And if it doesn't?" I asked, trying to hold back the lump in my throat.

"It will... have you ever known Leo to be cold to you? Like this?" Kristiana piped up now.

"Have you ever known Leo to loose his only father figure?" I retorted, feeling like an idiot as soon as I'd said them. I looked down at Kristiana, surprised to see she didn't seem offended.

"Well... you got a point. But... well... Mikey's been a bit clingy with me since..."

She trailed off, and I suddenly felt horrible. How could I be rude to the girls who had been my closest friends for over ten years now?

It was a nightmare, for all of us. Just... in different ways...

"Donnie's standoffish" Jade sighed "He'll be affectionate one minute, then wont want a bar of me _or_ Miah the next"

"That's weird... for him" I frowned.

"I know..."

We all fell silent, knowing all the turtles were suffering in their own ways. Even Ithiell seemed to be struggling a little...

Soon, we reached the burial sight, meeting up with the funeral directors, as well as the others. who opened the doors of the hearse enough for the boys to take the casket back out, then moved to place it on the contraption with the metal bars that puts the bodies down into the graves.

I watched as they all moved back, seeing Mikey wipe his eyes a little. Soon, I saw Donnie put an arm around the youngest brother, looking over to Raph. I noticed the brothers shared a hurt look, before my eyes landed on Leo.

I bit my lip as I saw his fists were clenched, and his eyes narrowed as the casket was lowered into the grave, his teeth clenched like he was ready for a fight. His chest was heaving like he'd just run a marathon, tears slowly streaking down his face again.

The sight made my chest hurt again, wanting so much to just go over and comfort him, but I knew... he'd probably pull away again...

I watched as Ithiell now stepped forward, my mother and Rtaia not far behind him. He lowered his head, spreading his arms out a little.

" _Pia_ watch over you Master Splinter" He said slowly "Let her light and wisdom grace your soul..."

I heard my mother and Rtaia mutter something in Chanaiben, and they stepped away as Ithiell now knelt down in front of the grave, his eyes watering as they started to shovel dirt over the casket.

"I'll miss you, you taught me so much..." He trailed off, handing his head now. I saw his shoulders shaking a little...

"You're not the only one that lost him you know!" Leo snapped, startling all of us. We looked at him as he looked at each of us in turn.

"The _hell_ was that for Leo?!" Raph growled, moving towards Leo but Rachel stopped him.

"Ithiell's selfish little speech!" Leo responded in the same tone "We _all_ lost Splinter... not just _him_!"

"Leo... what's gotten into you" Donnie muttered, although the fight seemed gone from him.

"Our father is dead! And no one... no one..."

Leo stopped, now looking down at his feet, his chest heaving and his fists clenching and unclenching.

"That's harsh bro..." Mikey muttered, looking about as shocked and worried as the rest of us.

"Leo..." I couldn't stand it any more, I moved to place my hands over one of his, hoping my touch would at least calm him down a little.

Instead, he tensed, but thankfully didn't move away.

Slowly, almost painfully it seemed, he managed to look up and met my eyes.

"I-" To my surprise, he yanked himself from my grasp, starting to move back from me.

"I'll... I'll meet you at home" Was all he said before he walked away.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

I thought after the funeral... after everything that had happened... he might finally start acting like the old Leo again, even just to come and talk to me like he used to.

Yet... during the weeks afterwards... it just seemed to get worse. He missed meals, slept on the couch... when he _did_ sleep... and spent his days in the small dojo we'd built onto the house for him and Dean to train in.

Every time I tried to approach him... for anything... he'd just turn and walk away. We'd barely talk about anything anymore, besides maybe an awkward hi here and there when we crossed paths in the house.

Dean was worried, like me... especially since he wasn't able to train, even on his own, telling me he was worried about bothering his father in the dojo.

I was coming to my wits end... wondering if I'd lost him forever. I was afraid I'd hear the words 'I want a divorce' in the near future, due to his actions, and the fact there had been no affection towards me whatsoever.

Dean, however, was a completely different story.

"Omph!" I grunted a little as I was almost knocked over, righting myself by holding onto the bench as I looked down.

"Sorry ma" Dean looked up at me apologetically, before digging his head into my side "Just thought you needed a hug"

"Thanks sweetheart"I couldn't help but smile a little, turning back to washing the dishes. I think by then all the tears had dried up, and I was starting to go numb. Leo just wasn't Leo anymore...

I finished my task with Dean still holding on to me, patting his hair gently as he moved to look up to me.

"I love you mom, kay?"

I smiled at him, rubbing his chin a little "Love you too my big boy"

"Can... can I go train outside?" He asked a little timidly, making me wrap my arms around him tightly now.

"Of course you can! Just... use the wooden katanas, okay baby?"

"Sure thing ma" He smiled up at me, then surprised me by taking my hand and kissing the top of it, running off before I could say or think anything else.

He was such a little gentleman... just like...

Just like Leo had been... once...

The phone ringing startled me out of my thoughts, and I moved to answer it quickly.

"Hello"

"Oh, hi Serah"

"Hey Donnie... how you doing?"

"Oh... yeah, I'm all right, thanks for asking. Are... um... are you okay?"

I froze for a moment, before composing myself enough to answer "Yeah Donnie, I'll... I guess I'll be all right"

Silence, then "Uh, sorry to be a bother, but... um, is... is Leo there?"

"Yeah... I'll see if he wants to answer the phone. It's... well, he hasn't really spoken to me..."

"He will, he just... I think he needs time. Maybe... maybe Raph and I can help him out, or Mikey... you know?"

I smiled a little, knowing he was trying to make me feel better, but right now...

"I'll try and give the phone to him... okay?"

"All right"

I got up, moving over to the doorway of the dojo, my heart now hammering and hoping he wouldn't just ignore me again...

"Uh, Leo?" I called, seeing the entire room was in darkness. He'd pulled the large blinds down and now I could barely see anything inside..

"Yeah?" Was the almost choked response.

"Um... Donnie's on the phone... he wants to talk to you"

"Oh... okay"

"Um... here" I moved to go into the room, holding the phone out in front of me to where I thought he was.

"Thanks" The phone was instantly gone from my hand, and after a few seconds of silence I realised he didn't want me in the room when he was talking to Donnie.

Inwardly I sighed, turning to walk outside, moving to just stand to the side of the doorway, leaning on the wall.

What was I going to-

"Yeah Donnie?"

Silence. A hum, and then-

"Training?"

More silence, then a deep sigh.

"I think I might pass this time Donnie, I-" He stopped, and it was obvious Donnie was saying something to him, making him grunt a little.

"Look, I'm fine. I just... need ti-"

Again, it sounded like Donnie cut him off.

"Look, I... I have to go" I heard a click, realising Leo had just hung up on his brother.

He really was further gone than-

 _Thunk!_

I shrieked as something hit the wall just near the door, making me duck a little.

"Hey!"

I looked down, seeing what I guessed was parts of the phone he had just thrown, hearing him grunt something from inside.

"Sorry" Was all he got out, as I looked up-

Dean was standing at the doorway to the kitchen, wooden katanas in his hands and staring with his mouth open. Slowly, very slowly, I watched the katanas slip out of his hands, and the look of shock turning from anger faster than I could blink.

"Dean-" I stopped, seeing him move towards me, wondering what he was doing... noticing he wasn't heading for me, he was-

"Dean, don't!" I went to grab him, but he ducked out of my grasp as he moved into the dojo, flicking the light on in the process.

I tried to grab him again, watching in horror as he strode up to Leo, stopping just feet from him. Leo looked...

His mask was off, and there were tear stains down his cheeks as he sat with his legs tucked under him, looking up at his son with confusion.

"You almost hurt mom!" Dean accused, his hands balled into fists. Leo looked down, now rubbing his eyes and sighing.

"Dean, I didn't mean-"

"And you keep hurting mom, _and_ me!"

Now Leo looked up at Dean, his face twisted into something between shock and worry.

To both our surprise, Dean took a deep breath, his eyes closing for a moment, his mood seeming to change from one of an anger to somewhat calm and collected. He sat, the same way Leo was sitting, now bowing his head a little and closing his eyes.

"Father... Sensei..."

Again, Leo seemed taken aback by Dean's posture, opening his mouth to say something but then stopping himself. I myself wanted to say something, finding I couldn't move. It seemed like... in a matter of seconds... Dean had matured into something I'd never seen from him.

"Your Master Splinter... your father... and our grandfather... was a wonderful being, and gave us all love and cared for us. I know you and my uncles respected him greatly, and it hurts us all to know he has finally... passed"

"Dean..." Leo said softly, tears now brimming his eyes.

"I know you're hurting dad... father... and most times I don't know what I can do to make you feel... better..."

Silence now, from Leo and myself. This... he didn't seem ten anymore...

"But shutting the rest of us out isn't helping you dad. Splinter may be gone, but we're still here... the world hasn't ended just yet"

"I..." Leo said again, but it seemed our son just refused to slow down. Not until he finished what he had to say.

"Mom... me... we're here for you, and we love you..."

Dean now lifted his head, and I saw tears now in his own eyes, which somehow made me want to cry now too. I didn't realise how much he'd grown, and how far he had come.

"Dad... please don't shut us out any more"

I saw the moment something sparked in Leo, and his eyes widened as he stared at Dean.

"Oh.. I'm so sorry..." He grabbed Dean then, making him cry out a little as he pulled his son towards him, now holding him as close as he dared. Eventually, Dean's arms went around his father, and I heard him let out a small sob.

"I love you Dean... I'm so sorry"

I couldn't help but let out a small sound, watching as Leo now looked up to me. The look on his face made me tremble a little, letting out another sound and putting a hand to my lips...

"Serah..." I watched as he moved away from Dean, finally getting to his feet and looking at me like it was the first time he'd seen me.

I tried to say something, tears streaking down my face as he moved towards me, his arms now open.

"I'm so sorry I hurt you... I am so... so sorry..." I felt his arms slowly, and almost gingerly, go around me, like he'd break me.

I wasn't sure what to do then, feeling his arms close in now, pulling me close to his chest. I dug my head into his shoulder, letting out my own sob.

"I love you so much... I'm so sorry..."

I could only nod a little, finally able to move enough so I was returning his affection.

He was... he was...

"I...love you too" Was all I could get out, holding him as close as I dared and falling silent.

We stayed like that for a few minutes, Leo kissing my temple and hair from time to time, before something touching my waist made me jerk away a little.

I looked down to see Dean, a smile on his face now, his arms going around both of us.

I held both Leo and Dean as close as I could, finally managing to get the courage to look up at Leo. In turn, he looked down at me. There was so much regret in his eyes...

"Leo?"

He stayed silent, but I knew he was listening.

"We're family, and we stick together... all right?"

He bit his lip, more tears threatening to fall as he leaned down a little, kissing me gently.

"All right then... together"

"Exactly" Came Dean's voice, and I moved to look down at him again. He was so smart now... so resourceful. And...

He had finally managed to get through to his father when I couldn't.

He would definitely be a force to be reckoned with when he was older.

In fact, I think all the kids would be.

In that moment, I realised how big, loving and insane our family really was. And how much we had all gone through... and we'd all survived. Pulled through by fighting together and helping one another when we needed it.

The thought made me smile a little, wrapped safely in Leo's arms by Dean by my side. It had never been easy, but we'd always made it work for us.

And I knew now we always would. No matter what challenges would be ahead.

 **-x-x-x-xx-x-xx-x-x-x-  
**

 **Hope you guys all enjoyed! This was the last chapter for the story.**

 **Hope you enjoyed! Let me know if you have and what you thought!  
**

 **Oh, and thank you to those who have been reading :)**

 **Now onto another project, catch you all there!  
**


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